Living free - Joy Adamson (Story of Elsa #2)

When the Adamsons learnt that Elsa had mated there began a long period of suspense. Not only were they concerned for her safety during her pregnancy, but she finally vanished for a number of days only to reappear without a trace of any cubs. It was another six weeks before she did at last bring her family to be introduced to Joy.

The three cubs soon developed distinctive characters. They were always led by Jespah, bold and mischievous, protective towards Elsa and playful with Joy. His brother Gopa was cautious by comparison and inclined to be jealous; while their sister Little Elsa remained the wildest of the three and the last to explore the camp. Not that the Adamsons encouraged the cubs to be familiar: on the contrary, they wished them to grow up entirely free. But two constant and growing dangers made it impossible to leave them as they had planned. First the bush became riddled with poachers, some of whom threatened to kill Elsa. Secondly, a fierce lioness challenged her territory and in a series of fights inflicted on Elsa a number of serious wounds.

The suspense, the deepening trust between man and lion, the diversions of the bush life—baboons, buffaloes, crocodiles, weaver birds—make Living Free an extraordinary and absorbing story.