For activist, it's lions and tigers and cares

At age 5, Will Travers spent a year in Africa while his parents – Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna – were starring in a movie about efforts to return a lioness to the wild.

Released in 1966, "Born Free" was an instant classic with a lasting impact, raising the public's consciousness about animal welfare through the beloved lioness Elsa.

The movie had a lasting impact on Will Travers, too. He is the chief executive officer of Born Free U.S.A. united with Animal Protection Institute, a nonprofit based in Sacramento. The organization, which began in November with the merger with API, tackles many animal issues, among them the plight of animals in zoos.

Travers, who divides his time among his offices in Sacramento, the United Kingdom and two in Africa, recently sat down to explain who he is and what he stands for.

First encounters with lions: It was in Africa when I was 5. I only went to the movie set once. We learned very fast that lions see small children as a prey item.

His parents portrayed the Adamsons: Joy(Adamson) was murdered in 1980 and George was murdered in 1989. She was murdered by her cook in Kenya, who had taken umbrage when Joy reprimanded him severely for something. George was murdered by bandits at his camp in northeastern Kenya.

Acting experience: I sort of dabbled and then realized I wasn't cut out for it. I had one medium-sized scene in a CBS miniseries in 1980 with David Carradine about the life of Gauguin filmed in Tahiti. That was it. If you're going to do something, you might as well do something pretty wacko like that.

A role too big for one: There were five main lioness actors used in the film because one liked to sit on the top of the Land Rover, one liked to swim and one liked to climb trees. To you and me, a lioness is a lioness. You just look, and it's Elsa.

Born Free, the movement: One of the elephant actors from the film "An Elephant Called Slowly" (1969) was living at the London Zoo and, 13 years later we heard she might be destroyed.

A fly-by-night group: About 40 of us met in London and a decision was made to set up an organization to see what was going on. The director of the London Zoo called us a nine-day wonder. That was in 1984. It's 2008 and we're still going strong.

Not a fan of zoos: We estimate there are 10,000 zoos worldwide. What are they there for? I would like to think that we haven't got thousands of tigers in captivity and there is no discernible value, but I'm afraid to say I see no evidence of it.

San Francisco Zoo tiger: It's a horror story from everybody's perspective. Then we started to see the deficiencies in the way that thing is set up. The barrier is 4 feet below the height recommended. There's no closed-circuit television monitoring the behavior of people.

American attitudes: Generally, American people are extremely compassionate. There is a deep-seated desire for justice. Injustice in whatever form is something the American psyche reacts strongly against.

Crocodile hunter: I have a split personality about Steve (Irwin). I wrote to him about wildlife trade issues, and I got very strong responses back. The flip side, I don't think hugging stuff is a good idea – snakes, rays, anything. That's not the right relationship.

Animal lover, but no pets: I think it would be unfair to the pet. I travel too much.

About the writer:

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