The Wilderness Family

In the heartwarming tradition of Born Free, a fascinating, funny and moving memoir of a family's life in the African wilderness and their love for an orphaned lion.

Kobie Kruger fell in love with her new home in remote Mahlangeni the moment she arrived with her game-ranger husband Kobus and their three little girls. Golden sunshine glowed in the lush garden; hippos basked in the Letaba River; storks and herons perched along the shore. Kobie felt she'd found heaven on earth - until she found a python in her bedroom on the first night. It was the perfect introduction to the wonders and terrors that awaited.

As the family settled into their new life, a steady stream of wild animals wandered in and out. A honey badger that they nursed back to health rampaged happily through the house. Sneaky hyenas stole blankets. Ordinarily placid elephants grew violent in the summer heat. And one terrible day, a lion attacked Kobus in the bush and nearly killed him.

But nothing prepared them for the sheer joy and heartbreak of raising a lion cub. Kobus found the three-day-old orphan crying for its dead mother and brought it home. Though terrified of lions, Kobie turned into an instant lion-mother. Leo became an adored member of the family, though they always knew that one day he would have to return to the wild.

By turns funny and heartbreaking, engaging and hair-raising, 'The Wilderness Family' is an unforgettable memoir of a woman, her family, and the remote corner of the world they called home for seventeen incredible years.

'The Wilderness Family' is illustrated throughout with delightful line drawings by Kobie's youngest daughter, Karin.