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Beverly Kelly, Florida, USA June 2010 “ I want to express my deepest gratitude to you for making my 80th birthday such a memorable occasion. Awaking to a new decade in Joy Adamson's bedroom was a thrill I shall treasure forever. The breakfast feast was extraordinary (including the crocodile shaped bread!) with celebratory champagne and a cake topped with lighted candles and presented by the chefs with appropriate singing. My family was very moved by the atmosphere of Elsamere---the beauty and dedication to conservation.” |
The Elsa Story
The story of the raising of an orphan lion cub by Joy and George Adamson in the 1950s and her subsequent release into the African bush is one of the great conservation stories of all time. Born Free - Joy’s captivating book about Elsa the lioness - was published by Harvill Press in 1960 and soon received international acclaim. In the years which followed, Joy published sequels to Born Free and more books about her hand-reared cheetah (Pippa) and leopard (Penny). In 1966 Born Free became a film starring husband-and-wife actors Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna. Filmed in the Kenya bush over the course of many months, it was shown as a Royal Command performance in London and soon became a worldwide hit.  | As Joy's fame as a conservationist grew, so did her fortune - but neither she nor George had any personal interest in money. Royalties from books and films were paid into a new charity which Joy called the Elsa Wild Animal Appeal, and has since become The Elsa Conservation Trust. After their murders, ten years apart, George and Joy each left their entire estates including Elsamere - Joy's house on Lake Naivasha - to the Elsa Conservation Trust. | During the last forty years the trust has donated millions of dollars to wild life education and conservation projects, large and small, helping to create the famous Kenyan parks and reserves at Meru, Samburu, Shaba, Kora and Hell's Gate and also the Field Study Centre at Elsamere. Today its principle activities and aims are to further conservation and worldwide conservation education, particularly in East Africa. Together the Adamsons revolutioned our attitudes to wild animals and warned the world that unless it protects their habitats, many of the most magnificent species would be extinct there within a few decades.
Donations and any enquiries should be sent to:
Elsa Conservation Trust, 27 Cleevemont, Evesham Road, Cheltenham GL52 3JT UK. |  | |
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