Tackling animal cruelty in China: Virginia McKenna interview

[Guest guest]

http://www.countrylife.co.uk/countryside/pursuits/article/193800/Interview_Virgi\

nia_McKenna.html

*Interview: Born Free actress Virginia Mckenna*

 

 

 

1. *Interview: Virginia McKenna *

 

* *

 

*Following the success of the 1966 film Born Free, Virginia McKenna and her

husband Bill Travers founded Born Free, the charity that rescues and rehomes

animals taken from their natural environment*

 

*Thursday, 28 February 2008*

 

*Roderick Gilc*

 

 

 

*The passion for wild animals began at an early age for Virginia McKenna.

'When I was five, my father made me dress up in my best party frock and

recite the old music-hall song Albert and the Lion for any visitors. I hated

it, but I think everything started there.' She wasn't to know it then, but

lions were to define her life. In 1966, she and her late husband, Bill

Travers, starred in Born Free, the story of Kenyan game wardens Joy and

George Adamson, who adopted Elsa, an orphaned lion cub, and then

successfully released her into the wild. The Oscar-winning film was crucial

in changing attitudes about animal conservation. Following this, she and

Bill founded Born Free, the charity that rescues and rehomes animals taken

from their natural environment. Which is why today, in slamming 40ºC heat,

we're in Shamwari, a game park in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province.

 

For 10 years, Virginia campaigned for the release of big beasts from the

antiquated zoo in Monaco, set in the cliffs below the palace where Prince

Rainier and Princess Grace once ruled. With cruel irony, the animals' prison

overlooked tax-exile wealth super yachts and the Monte Carlo casino. With a

determination that belies her frail frame and 77 years, Virginia persuaded

the new ruler, Prince Albert, to release 16-year-old brother and sister

leopards Pitou and Sirius, who have only known life behind bars. In a

moment, they'll be freed from their cages into a fenced-off garden of acacia

trees, where they'll spend the rest of their days. *

*Captivated by Virginia's burning commitment, Prince Albert has agreed that

his other wild animals will also be freed, and plans to transform Jardin

Animalier into a petting zoo, with smaller creatures for children to

stroke.Virginia says: 'Our bush camps in South Africa allow the rescued

lions and leopards, many of them victims of human abuse, the space and

privacy to lead their lives as naturally as possible. We also teach students

the importance of conservation. We want to instill in them compassion

towards wildlife, so the future of our natural heritage can be sustained for

generations.' Virginia was the star of heroic post-war films such as The

Cruel Sea and Carve Her Name with Pride, in which she played the

quintessential young Englishwoman, although, ironically, she's half-Irish.

 

At the height of her fame, she surrendered the glamour of Hollywood to start

Born Free. It began with £2,000 of public donations, after the tragic death

in London Zoo of an elephant named Pole, who had appeared in a film she made

in Kenya. Today, the charity spends £3 million a year on rescuing and

releasing animals into the wild, from England to the Far East. It also gives

aid to impoverished villages in the Third World, in the hope that, in

return, the natives will help Born Free protect their wild animals. When

people talk of the sacrifices she has made, she says: 'What sacrifices? I've

been privileged to work with wonderful animals and have gained immense

happiness when we've managed to give them back dignity, happiness and space

in their natural environment.'

 

Two years ago, she was made an OBE for her animal-welfare work, but many of

her supporters are anticipating the day she will be made a Dame. Virginia

says it's not an honour she wants. 'It would disconnect me from all of Born

Free's supporters.'Virginia, who now has nine grandchildren spread around

the world, shows no sign of slowing down. Her next campaign is tackling

animal cruelty in China. Bejing is proving difficult. But this is a woman

who, as the governess in The King and I, brought Yul Brynner to heel. Don't

bet against her.For further information about Born Free's Big Cat project,

visit **www.bornfree.org.uk* <http://www.bornfree.org.uk/>