The plight of so many animals still moves me to tears..
Actress inspired by playing Joy Adamson on life’s work
two, she was given as a gift to London Zoo by the Kenyan government after starring in 1969 film An Elephant Called Slowly, alongside Virginia and Bill.
Their campaign to give her a better life in Africa was rejected by the zoo authorities, who eventually agreed to send Pole Pole to Whipsnade.
Tragically, Pole Pole was euthanised shortly after an aborted transfer.
Determined that her death should not be in vain, Virginia, Bill and Will launched Zoo Check – the charity that has evolved into Born Free.
Today, 37 years later, the charity has projects in more than 20 countries.
It runs campaigns in the areas of individual wild animal rescue and care, wildlife policy, compassionate conservation, education and more. Virginia once declined an offer to tour
America in The King and I with Yul Brynner, a role that had won her an Olivier Award, to focus instead on family and charity.
She said: “The red carpet holds no thrill for me. We never liked to go to posh places. It was the work and the company I loved. But family is most precious of all and doing my best to end the suffering of wild animals is incredibly important to me.”
Virginia endured criticism for her beliefs decades before conservationism was cool. And her devotion to the cause only increased through the decades.
She said: “Seeing the ghastly way some animals are kept often moves me to tears. I have watched Tiger King and I think it’s deeply, deeply shocking.
“It’s outrageous that anyone in this day and age... would be allowed to have captive wild creatures.
“The young people who write to us feel the same.”
But Virginia has great optimism for the future of wildlife protection.
She said: “People like Bella Lack and Greta Thunberg are so courageous because they come in for criticism from people who don’t see anything wrong with keeping animals in cages.”
Virginia, awarded an OBE in 2004 for her contribution to the arts and animal welfare, has taken time recently to reflect on her extraordinary life.
She remembers: “There have been some very special days, like when I married Bill all those years ago in 1957, when we came here to live, the birth of our four children... everything to do with family makes me happy.”
Big birthday celebrations with her 11 grandchildren, including actress Lily Travers, and her five great-grandchildren have been split into smaller affairs as the pandemic means her family “can’t come together in one big huddle”.
Covid blocked another wish too. She explains: “If I could wave a wand I would go to Kenya one more time to be in the land where Born Free was born, to visit Elsa’s grave. We had booked a trip but it was cancelled. I go there in my head and in my dreams.” ■ Register for Virginia Mckenna’s online birthday event at www.givergy. uk/happybirthdayvirginia
Everything to do with family makes me happy. VIRGINIA MCKENNA REFLECTING ON HER LIFE