‘Born Free’ Lion Killed in Botswana

One of the last lions raised by the late conservationist George Adamson was shot dead when it wandered onto a farm, wildlife officials said Tuesday.

Batian, a 3-year-old male, was killed two weeks ago when it left a protected reserve in southern Botswana and crossed onto a private South African farm near the northeastern town of Pontdrift, according to the Directorate of Nature and Environment Conservation.

Adamson, whose work with lions in Kenya was immortalized in the book and movie “Born Free,” was raising Batian and two female cubs when he was murdered at his camp in northern Kenya in 1989.