How would you like to wake up every morning in the same house with a lion? And if a cougar is walking nearby? The size and potential for aggression of these animals do not give us the thought to allow them to be kept at home instead of a kitten or dog.
Some still decide to get large predators like a lion or a panther at home, but, unfortunately, this does not always end well for them. A striking example of this is the Berberovs. The tragedy occurred with the son of this family precisely because of their unreasonable desire for home exoticism. It happened back in 1980. Then the news of the incident in the Azerbaijani family quickly spread all over the world.
The first lion in the family
The Berberov family consisted of Lev Lvovich, an architect by profession, his wife Nina Petrovna, and children, Roman and Eve. According to Nina Berberova, her husband was very fond of animals. They had a lot of pets. Among them were cats, dogs, parrots, raccoons and snakes. When the opportunity arose, they did not refuse to have someone more oversized. This is where the sad history of the Berberovs originates.
Once at the zoo they saw a sickly lion cub whom they wanted to put to sleep. The Berberovs decided to save the poor animal by taking it home. After a while, the stronger lion King became a full member of their family.
Not born free
As Nina Petrovna admits, they had an idea to return an adult lion to the zoo, but the animal arranged a real rebellion against this. Resting with all his might, King nearly turned over the car in which he was brought, although he was not at all aggressive.
In the 1986 film “Born Free,” based on a story of the same name, Joy Adamson, a family that went out to a lioness named Elsa, eventually released her into the wild. However, the Berberovs were informed that King could no longer live free. Unlike Elsa (“Born Free”), this lion, according to experts, was completely unprepared for such a life. So King stayed with the Berberovs until his death.
King's stellar career
A tamed lion is a godsend for many filmmakers. King began to film. The most famous film with his participation is “The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia”. Of course, the ubiquitous press could not get around the family with an unusual pet. At that time, the headlines of many popular publications were full of their family, several documentaries were shot about them.
But it was clear from everything that the Berberov family did not keep a lion in their apartment not for fame or money - they all loved him very much. For example, Lev Lvovich and Nina Petrovna put up with the fact that King repeatedly climbed to sleep in their family box. The head of the family more than once as a result of this appeared on the floor. In everyday life, King behaved like an ordinary domestic cat: he licked guests and hid in the corner when they shouted at him.
Perplexed neighbors
Leo Berberov, of course, more than once made their neighbors worry. First of all, they were annoyed by a terrible stench coming from their apartment. The opportunity to have an apartment in a prestigious district of Baku seemed to them now not so beautiful. In addition, this rather big kitten needed a daily walk. Surely the neighbors tried not to leave their apartments in the morning period of time when King went for a walk.
And it happened that King woke up at night and made a typical roar. It is unlikely that the neighbors who heard this would have pleasant dreams after that. And what a roar, probably, was heard when the lion rolled over from its hind legs to its front, playing with the dog Chapik ...
King's death
That day turned out to be one of the hardest that the Berberovs only experienced. The tragedy occurred during the filming of a film about Italians in Russia. The lion was standing by the window when a young man appeared behind the glass and began to tease the animal in every way. King was very playful by nature, this behavior of the young man prompted him, standing on his hind legs, squeezing the glass, running to the young man and dumping him on the floor.
Nina Berberova is sure that the behavior of the young man was the first to motivate this lion. And secondly, on the set he was just trained in a scene where he was supposed to catch up with a man and dump him on the ground. Whatever it was, but for this action, King paid with his life.
At that moment, a police officer was walking by, who had weapons with him. It is difficult now to say how this fight between King and the young man would end without police intervention, because it is not known to the end whether the lion had such innocuous intentions. As a result, for a man everything ended with just a few scratches, and the lion lost his life. The day after the death of the animal, the Berberovs dog died, and the members of the family fell into deep gloom.
King ii
Shortly after the death of the lion, the Berberovs, whose tragedy in life greatly wounded their psyche, decided to get King II. As Nina Petrovna admits, she was against this idea, but Lev Lvovich insisted. The Berberovs Vladimir Vysotsky and Marina Vlady, writer Yuri Yankovsky and screenwriter Sergey Obraztsov provided great assistance in acquiring a new lion cub at that time.
The new member of the Berberov family was the pet of the Kazan Zoo. The story of a new lion cub in this family began in a completely different way. He did not need care. But from the very beginning he began to demand respect for himself. He fell in love with Roma Berberov and in all respects obeyed him implicitly. The boy could even climb a lion. The animal did not allow this to anyone else.
King II on the set of the film
Like King I, King II also became a movie star. In 1975, based on the real life facts of the Berberov family, Yuri Yakovlev created the script for a new film called “I Have a Lion”. The Berberov children took part in it. During filming, the lion more than once showed the nature of a predator.
For example, when Konstantin Bromberg, the director of the film, demanded that the lion jump into cold water, he landed a sharp fang in his leg, leaving a hole 8 cm deep. And the assistant operator, due to one sudden movement, was completely left without a piece of his finger. Nevertheless, the film was shot to the end, the public liked it. After such a successful finale, King was invited to star in another film, but it didn’t work out with her ...
The death of Lev Lvovich Berberov
In 1978, the Berberovs experienced another grief. This time the tragedy happened to the head of the family. Lev Lvovich died of a heart attack, leaving his wife fully responsible for the children and the full house of animals. By the way, of the large animals in the Berberovs' house, there was still a black cougar.
The head of the Communist Party provided the Berberov family with invaluable assistance at that time. Meat was allocated for animals, they were even given a minibus. However, the contents of the lion at that time for the Berberovs became an unbearable burden, they planned to hand it over to the zoo in the near future.
King II also had difficulty surviving the death of the "leader." At first he looked everywhere for him. Then he began to get things of Lev Lvovich, lay down on them with his whole massive body and hugged with his huge paws. According to Nina Petrovna, he did not then become more aggressive towards her and the children.
The assassination of Roma Berberov and King II
The day of November 24, 1980 began in the most ordinary way, both for Nina Petrovna, and for her son Roma and King's pet. The most terrible in the life of a woman and the last in the life of Roma and King this day was later. Nina Petrovna went to the publishing house in the morning about the book. Berberova came up with the idea of publishing their creations with her husband about all their pets.
When she returned, she found King in a not very friendly mood. After she fed her son, who had just returned from school, she carried the meat to the room where the lion was. The animal suddenly pounced on it with all its massive carcass, tumbled to the floor and severely tore its head. This was not quite the usual behavior for him.
Regarding how the 14-year-old Roma Berberov was killed by a lion, there are several versions. One of them says that the beast was intoxicated by the blood that appeared on the head of Nina Petrovna after he scratched it. According to another hypothetical scenario, a black cougar, then living in the Berberovs' house, was involved in the case. In any case, one thing is known - Roma tried to stop the angry animal, for which he paid with his life. Arriving at the scene, the police shot and killed the lion, and with it the puma.
Further life of Nina Berberova
Nina Petrovna learned about the death of her son only after she was discharged from the hospital. The shocking news again knocked the woman down; she spent three months in the hospital. She did not want to live, thought of suicide. To get out of this extremely depressed situation, she was helped by her daughter, as well as friend - actor Kyazim Abdullaev, who later became her husband.
In the family of Kyazym Abdullaev and Nina Berberova, two children appeared. A woman has no desire to keep wild animals at home. Now they only have parrots, cats and dogs. In a prominent place in her house are photographs of both lions that were in her life, and a photograph of her son in the arms of King I. The woman does not hold evil against the second King, as she understands that it was a predator. But she still has not removed the blame from herself for the death of her son.
In Russia it is not forbidden to keep predatory animals at home. But for this you need to purchase a license for a private zoo. This involves a lot of fuss and considerable work. But, probably, this is for the best, because lions and panthers freely roaming the street pose a great danger to ordinary residents. This kind of exotic can be expensive not only to others, but also to those who tamed the animal. The tragedy of the Berberov family, circling the world, clearly proves that there is no place for a wild animal in a civilized society.