Lion Heart

Cam Whitnall’s bold and uplifting memoir tells the story of the unique bonds with big cats that shaped his childhood and the dramatic warzone rescue that brought five lions to safety here in the UK.

The Whitnall family’s adventures began when Cam’s grandparents visited the old Broxbourne Zoo and witnessed the awful conditions there. Despite having no experience of wild animals, the pair traded in their own company and, with hard work, they transformed the zoo.

Growing up on the site, Cam and his two older brothers slept in a room that overlooked the tiger enclosure. They played hide and seek around the grounds once visitors had left and even hand-reared a lion cub called Zara in their parent’s home. Learning from their grandparents, Cam, Aaron and Tyler committed themselves to protecting rare and wonderful animals from across the globe. Cam now runs the Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent which hit the headlines in 2024 for spearheading a mammoth rescue effort to bring five abandoned and shell-shocked lions trapped in war-torn Ukraine to safety at the sanctuary.

Changing their fate, it was a journey that saw Cam develop an unbreakable bond with Yuna, Vanda, Rori, Amani and Lira, and gave the lions the freedom to walk on grass for the very first time.