'The Wilderness Family' is illustrated throughout with delightful line drawings by Kobie's youngest daughter, Karin. Leo became an adored member of the family, though they always knew that one day he would have to return to the wild.īy turns funny and heartbreaking, engaging and hair-raising, 'The Wilderness Family' is an unforgettable memoir of a woman, her family, and the remote corner of the world they called home for seventeen incredible years. Though terrified of lions, Kobie turned into an instant lion-mother. Kobus found the three-day-old orphan crying for its dead mother and brought it home. And one terrible day, a lion attacked Kobus in the bush and nearly killed him.īut nothing prepared them for the sheer joy and heartbreak of raising a lion cub. Ordinarily placid elephants grew violent in the summer heat. A honey badger that they nursed back to health rampaged happily through the house. It was the perfect introduction to the wonders and terrors that awaited.Īs the family settled into their new life, a steady stream of wild animals wandered in and out. Kobie felt she'd found heaven on earth - until she found a python in her bedroom on the first night. Far from everywhere, this isolated corner of the wilderness was home for eleven years to Kobie Krger, wife of the ranger in charge of the station. Golden sunshine glowed in the lush garden hippos basked in the Letaba River storks and herons perched along the shore.

Kobie Kruger fell in love with her new home in remote Mahlangeni the moment she arrived with her game-ranger husband Kobus and their three little girls. In the heartwarming tradition of Born Free, a fascinating, funny and moving memoir of a family's life in the African wilderness and their love for an orphaned lion.

The wilderness family kobie kruger