With My Soul Amongst Lions

After George Adamson, whose wife, Joy, wrote the Born Free trilogy, was murdered by poachers in 1986, Patterson took over his work with lions. He relocated the remaining three to the Tuli bushlands in Botswana, an area that borders on Zimbabwe and South Africa. The lions--Batian, Furaka and Rafiti--became integrated with the local wild lions, mating with them and becoming completely independent. Batian, the male, wandered into South Africa, where he was shot by trophy hunters. In this emotionally charged sequel to Last of the Free, Patterson chronicles the fate of the two surviving lions. He has shared an extraordinary, intimate relationship with them, living with the pride for several years. He and his companion, Julie, lived and worked under appalling conditions of extreme heat and aridity, patrolling for poachers and struggling with landowners. This is an intense, gripping story of Patterson's attempt to save African wildlife. He is working at present toward a Peace Park, a reserve that would include land from all three countries, giving the wild animals both protection and space to live without the constriction of national boundaries. Photos. (Nov.)