Zamba

Zamba was an orphaned African lion cub owned by Ralph Helfer, an exotic animal trainer who owned a ranch called "Nature's Haven: Wild Animal Rentals Co," in Van Nuys, California that he opened in 1955. The cub was named after the Zambezi River in Zambia, where he was found, almost near death by two of Ralph's friends Jack and Brini who were on a three-week Safari photographing the wildlife in Africa. Brini really got attached to Zamba while they were nursing him back to health but they both knew their good friend Ralph would not only be the perfect person to raise Zamba but he had the property to do it when they brought him back to America. The animal trainers of Hollywood in that time used cruel treatment in the training of their wild exotic animals in the entertainment industry. The trainers brought them in with cages, used the fear and intimidation of whips, guns and chairs to beat their animals into control. Even as a child Ralph pledged his life to a crusade against animal cr