Over the years, wild animals in captivity have been a subject of great controversy. The debate lies within the animal itself; Some people believe that having animals in captivity deprives them of their natural instincts and thus ruins the animal. On the other hand, others believe that keeping certain animals in captivity can save them from the cruel world in which they would otherwise be forced to live. In the novel A Lion Called Christian, this latter view took a unique turn and was brought to life by Anthony Bourke, John Rendall and their lion, Christian. When Anthony and John decide to buy an African lion from a seller at Harrods, they decide that by temporarily keeping the lion themselves and eventually finding a place for it to be released into the wild, they would ultimately save him from living a likely life in a zoo. Later in their adventure with Christian, they befriend a well-known figure who helps them find a place in Africa to rehabilitate and free Christian. Anthony and John not only managed to save Christian from a potentially terrible life in a zoo, but they also took care of Christian and prepared him for the life he would lead in Africa once his rehabilitation was complete. Zoo maintenance is a controversial subject. for many years, and the world has made great strides to improve it. Despite this, even today, many animal welfare issues remain. Although zoos collect information about the animals they own in captivity, they fail to apply this collected information to improve the lifestyle of the animals they own. Among other things, the problems zoos face are: ensuring that the... middle of paper ......istian does not turn into the "domestic cat" that it essentially was during his first months. Anthony and John properly cared for Christian and prepared him for an independent life as a wild cat in Africa, while saving him from the captured life in a zoo. Works Cited Hayward, Matt W. and Rob Slotow. “Temporal partitioning of activity in large African carnivores: multiple hypothesis testing.” South African Journal of Wildlife Research 39.2 (2009): 109-125. Premier Academic Research. Internet. November 27, 2011. Rapson, Jackie A. and Ric TF Bernard. "Interpretation of the diet of lions (Panthera Leo); a comparison of various methods of analysis." South African Journal of Wildlife Research 37.2 (2007): 179-187. Premier Academic Research. Internet. November 27, 2011.Zamir, Tzachi. “The Welfare-Based Defense of Zoos.” Society and Animals 15.2 (2007): 191-201. Premier Academic Research. Internet. December 9. 2011.