Now that’s a house cat! Fascinating images showing famous LION that lived in Chelsea flat in the 1960s eating steak, drinking from the toilet and enjoying trips in a Mercedes convertible are to go on sale

• In 1969 two Australian socialites decided to buy a lion from Harrods and raised him in their Chelsea flat
• Christian the lion cub was taken to parties, strolls down the road and driven in a soft top Mercedes
• Photos of Christian from his time in Chelsea, in his London flat and in Africa are up for sale this month

Surreal images of a lion that lived in a London flat that show him eating steak, drinking from the loo and enjoying trips in a convertible car are to go on sale.

The pictures feature Christian the cub who was bought from Harrods in 1969 by Australians socialites John Rendall and Anthony ‘Ace’ Bourke.

The famous department store used to have a pet shop that sold a variety of wild animals including rare birds, lions and even an alligator.

The Australian duo paraded their lion around parties, took him for drives in a Mercedes soft top and allowed him to roam free in their upmarket flat in Chelsea.

Christian can been seen on the sofa, in the bathroom, watching TV and being taken to meet other London hipsters.

The pair raised Christian in their home above their Kings Road furniture shop – ironically named Sophistocat.

Australians socialites Anthony ‘Ace’ Bourke (left) and John Rendall driving their lion cub Christian they bought from Harrods in their Mercedes around London in 1970 (pictured). Photos from the young lion’s time in the capital will be sold this month

Christian was able to freely roam around the Chelsea flat he was raised in, even drinking water from the toilet

Christian would enjoy eating steak and being visited by lots of visitors, including the Rolling Stones who would visit after rehearsing nearby

The sight of Christian in a car was of great intrigue to local children, who didn’t seem scared to take a closer look  

Christian was a very popular sight and was regularly seen around Kings Road in Chelsea

It is believed that The Rolling Stones, who rehearsed nearby, would frequently drop by to visit ‘the two Aussies with a lion’.

Christian was eventually taken back to his origins in Kenya when he got too big.

But incredibly years later John and Ace visited him their and the emotional reunion was caught on video viewed by tens of millions.

As soon as the heart-felt video was uploaded the remarkable story of the two Australians and their lion cub came to light.

Photographs of Christian in Chelsea, Randall’s London flat and Africa will be sold as part of Sworders’ Homes and Interiors sale on June 21.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=cvCjyWp3rEk%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US

Christian the lion recognised his old master in Kenya and bounded up to him for a hug when they were reunited in 1971

Christian the Lion in the bathroom of the flat where he lived with the two friends on King’s Road in Chelsea, London

Christian unsurprisingly ended up growing to be much larger than a house cat and had to be flown to Kenya and placed in the care of a conservationist

Christian was fed steak and taken to restaurants and glamorous parties and was a regular sight on the streets of Chelsea

A spokesman said: ‘Rendall’s extraordinary story became known by a new generation when grainy footage was uploaded to YouTube a decade ago.

‘It shows John and Ace being greeted with huge affection by a fully grown male lion as they meet in the African bush.

‘Two year’s earlier, in 1969, John Rendall and Anthony ‘Ace’ Bourke, two Australians flat-sharing in Swinging London, had bought Christian as a cub in Harrods for £250 and raised him on a diet of steak in Chelsea.

‘He lived with them above a Kings Road furniture shop taken to society parties in the back of an open-top Mercedes.

‘The Rolling Stones, who rehearsed nearby, would frequently drop by to visit ‘the two Aussies with a lion’.

‘An exotic animal in London was just a part of experimental Sixties London – at the time Harrods sold a variety of ‘pets’.

Mr Rendall said he and Mr Bourke were ‘astonished to discover there were two lion cubs for sale’ in Harrods and we found Christian ‘utterly irresistible’ 

The duo felt that by buying Christian they could offer him ‘something better than his life at a department store’ even just for a few months

‘However, following a meeting with the actors Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, stars of the 1966 film Born Free, it was agreed that Christian would be flown to Kenya and placed in the care of the lion conservationist George Adamson.

‘The transition to the wild at the Kora National Park was successful with Christian, weighing over 500lbs, leading a pride of lionesses and a dynasty of cubs.

‘The events inspired Rendall to become a conservationist and created a lifelong affinity with Africa and its wildlife.’

Christian, born on August 12, 1969, was originally acquired by Harrods from a now-defunct zoo park in Ilfracombe, off the North Devon coast.

Christian’s growing size and the increasing cost of his care led Rendall and Bourke to come to the realisation they could not keep him in London.

Christian ate four meals – two liquid, two solid- plus supplements every day, which cost about £30 a week at the time.

Both Ace and John travelled to the continent in 1970 to return Christian to the wild, though they were extremely concerned as he was a fifth generation zoo-­bred lion.

They also returned one year later again and, despite Christian having not been seen for three months at the time, the lion rushed into their camp to greet them again and they were able to spend nine days with him.

Christian then left the two friends one morning to rejoin the other lions and they never saw him again – which they viewed as a success, because he was no longer dependent on humans and had become a real African lion.

However he was known to be getting into fights with other resident lions at the Kora Reserve and began to stay away from the area for long periods before being last seen in 1973 heading towards Meru National Park.

The pair visited Christian twice in Africa in 1971 and 1972, but he was never seen again after 1973

Christian with John and Ace in Kenya on one of their two visits to see him after he was taken to Africa

Christian, John and Ace with some friends enjoying the sun on a beach in UK after taking him on a trip to the seaside

Christian was about the size of a dog when he first moved in to the flat, but by the last time they saw him in Africa he reportedly weighed around 500lbs 

Anthony Bourke (left) and John Rendall (right, in 2009) promoted conservation and told their story in the years that followed

Christian the lion rummaging through the drawers at the flat in Chelsea where Mr Rendall and Mr Bourke lived together

Photo collections of ‘Christian the lion’ and a separate auction of African tribal art John Rendall possessed upon his initial travels to Africa are on for sale with Sworders next month.

The latter collection includes 26 African tribal objects from drums and head rests to weaponry and will be sold on June 14 to 15.

It features an early 20th century Beja tribe (Sudan) elephant hide shield and a large carved softwood figure of a snake from Central Africa.

A plaster maquette modelled in the form of a man embracing a lion, inscribed: ‘Two Beautiful Beings, Happy John & a Lion Called Christian’ is also expected to bring £100-150.

 In January this year John Rendall died at the age of 76.

Mr Rendall, whose final meeting with Christian was in Kenya when he visited in 1972, hoped that his former pet lived a long and healthy life and had cubs of his own, but never found out what happened to the ‘London lion’.

Christian was last seen in 1973 crossing the Tana River going north in the direction of Meru National Park, and Mr Rendall previously said he hoped the lion lived another ten years and that his descendants still live in Kenya today.

Mr Rendall had also dismissed suggestions that poachers may have killed Christian, saying it was unlikely that this would have stayed a secret because the lion was probably the biggest in Kenya, weighing in at 500lbs (227kg).

Because lions only live between 15 to 20 years depending on their environment, Christian is almost certainly now dead.

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