Now years later it has transformed into a lion and Sirga is preparing for life in the wild. Valentine taught her to hunt.
Sirga was found in critical condition on a farm in February 2012 after a pride of lions gave birth to three cubs. Two of the babies died and the third was abandoned by adults.
Working with a veterinarian, Valentine put the 4-pound animal on a drip to prevent severe dehydration.
Over the next few days, he found a mixture of fresh eggs, cream, milk, vitamins, sunflower oil, and calcium to make her fat.
"To this day, we believe she was probably the most pampered and best-fed lion in Botswana," he said with a laugh.
Within a year, she had gained 175 pounds, was weaned and ate raw meat.
Valentin, who is from Germany, and Mikkel Legarth, his conservationist colleague from Denmark, have a strong resolve to assist Sirga in her return to the wild and train her in hunting skills.
That meant spending hours teaching her how to stalk and kill—skills that aren't instinctive and often proudly learned by pups from adults.
Mikkel stated that they aim to prevent Sirga from becoming similar to other captive lions that rely on tourists for food.
He added that Sirga is capable of hunting and catching antelopes on her own, and even allows them to be near her while she eats, which is quite impressive.
Eventually, our goal was to release her back into the wild as a true lion. That would be very dangerous. She only interacted with me and Valentine.
When John and Anthony returned to Kenya a year later, Sirga recognized them immediately and excitedly put her feet on their shoulders.
The video went viral after it was posted on YouTube in 2008. Since then, it has been viewed more than 100 million times.
Perhaps Sirga's remarkable relationship with her surrogate parents, Valentin and Mikkel, will prove to be emotionally long.
Watching the video below:
