It's hard to complain when you get plenty of food, care, and cuddling. When I lay next to my lion and watch the sun settle into bed behind the mountains, I think that I must be the luckiest creature on earth. But I have my regrets.

As a cub I was energetic and wanted to play, but I had a full time career. Strangers brought their children to hold me for a picture. I would smell them like a civilized lion, giving them a quick kiss. I kept expecting each one to stay and play with me, but never once did they give me more than a quick pat. One photo and it was over.

My owner used to call me his little princess. He would stroke me, smile at me and feed me from a bottle. But as time passed and I got older, he began to give me strange looks. He rarely smiled anymore, and he seemed to resent feeding me. Something told me that my life was about to change, and that was frightening.

That change came suddenly when John and Barbara came. They hugged me like the boys and girls did, but when I kissed them, they kissed me back. I must have done something right because they were not in a hurry to leave. I became their little princess.

I didn't know John and Barbara then. But before long, I figured out that I was home, and that was a very good feeling. They never gave me the resentful looks and they never expected me to work. I like meeting new friends, but I do it at my own pace and in my own way.

I grew up with John and Barbara because there were no other cubs to play with me. The other cats were all adults and rather unpredictable. I can be a bit unpredictable too, as befits a queen.

Among the other cats at this sanctuary was Rocky... big, beautiful, and one of my kind. I was overwhelmed! Fate brought us together!

Rocky wasn't as fortunate as I. He didn't know where he came from but he had been treated badly and was close to death when he was rescued. The people lavished love and care on him till he could raise his head again, and roar with pride and happiness.

Our people had no idea Rocky and I were a breed apart from ordinary lions until fate stepped in once more... They discovered we were rare Barbary lions. A reserve had been set aside in Morocco to return Barbary lions to their ancestral kingdom. Though we won't get there, perhaps our cubs will. 

How old are you? If you are already eight you're quite old for a wild lion. Living with people like John and Barbara, a lion can hope to live twenty years, which is a long time to sit still or have an itch you can't reach, but it's not nearly long enough to do what you and your human friends want to do. I hope you have a great life and get to do all the things you dream of, but for Rocky and I there are a few simple things we want to do, the things our ancestors did.

When I was a cub, I used to think I would be here forever. But when my old friend Satchel the Cougar died, I learned that we all die someday, and that frightens me. I'm not afraid to die--not VERY afraid--but my Rocky is older than I, and I know someday I'll wake up and expect to feel his warmth next to me, and there will only be a cold empty spot! I won't think about it now--I can't. But I know if Rocky and I are to have a life together, we must take full advantage of the time we have left. Our lives are slipping away seven times faster than yours and we need a place where we can go to be alone. A place for just the two of us to live and love and bring new life into the world. Will you please help us?