I think one of the things that really appeals to me about lions is that they give the outward appearance of being quite cuddly while they would, in fact, rip your head off in a trice!

I don’t believe I would ever be one of those people who imagines that they can make friends with a lion. You know the type, we hear about them on the news occasionally when the friendship making goes horribly, and predictably, wrong.

Drunk people breaking into zoos seems to feature in this category, as do people who step out of landrovers to have their pictures taken with the lions in the background!!

I saw a brilliant documentary recently about Joy Adams and her husband (John??) and the story behind the book (and film) Born Free. With the Adam’s help the actors shot the film in amongst the various lions which of course makes it look as if the lions are genuinely tame.

One of these lions was called ‘Boy’ and he subsequently tried to eat the young son of one of his guardians. Then, some years later, he did eat an African man who was a part of the ‘lion team’.

On the other hand there is the story of Christian the lion which, if you watch the youtube footage, will make you cry. And who couldn’t love Clarence? It would be very hard to be afraid of a cross-eyed anything, even if it was a savage beast of the Serengeti.

Still, if I ever fulfill this goal and see a lion at close quarters I hope I will be smart enough to remember that, in their eyes, I resemble little more than a chicken Jalfarezei with pilau rice and an onion bargee.