A family that was killed by lions. The tragic story of the famous Berberov family, who settled a lion in an ordinary apartment: how a Disney fairy tale turned into a nightmare
There were no veterinarians in the Berberov family, much less professional trainers. Berberov Sr., whose name, by the way, was Lev, worked as an engineer, and his wife Nina managed the house. The couple had two children, Roma and Eva. They all loved animals very much. IN different time In their city apartment in Baku, there were sometimes dogs, sometimes cats, sometimes raccoons, sometimes snakes. However, this was not enough for the Berberovs.
One day at the local zoo they saw a little lion cub, who, by decision of the administration, was going to be euthanized because his mother had died. However, by some miracle the Berberovs managed to persuade the zoo management to give them the lion cub to raise. Soon King (as the predator was called) turned into a huge, strong animal, and the Berberovs themselves became celebrities. Articles and documentaries about the life of the family spread throughout the Union.
But the happiness turned out to be short-lived. King died. This happened during the filming of the film " Incredible adventures Italians in Russia", in which he participated famous lion. The predator attacked the man, and a passing policeman shot the animal with a gun. service weapon. The Berberovs unanimously argued that the victim, who escaped with scratches, was himself to blame for the fact that the lion behaved aggressively. Allegedly, the young man was teasing the beast.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of terrible tragedy, which took place in 1980 in Baku. The Berberov family, which, to the surprise of the whole country, kept a lion and a puma in their apartment for many years, paid a bloody price for this. Lev King is a movie star. was killed in the summer of 1974, after which the Berberovs decided to “adopt” another lion cub. But what they succeeded with one predatory animal, they failed with the other. On November 24, 1980, King II, in a fit of rage, attacked the owner Nina Berberova and tore her son Roman to pieces. Both the killer lion and the puma died from the bullets of the arriving policemen.
Movie star Lev King Lev Lvovich
The first lion named King appeared in the Berberov family after the architect Lev Lvovich (an amazing coincidence of name and animal) took a lion cub from the zoo, where his mother abandoned him, and managed to get him out. So the lion cub ended up in the Berberov family, which consisted of four people: Lev Lvovich Berberov, his wife Nina Petrovna and two children - Roman and Eva. The animal had a calm disposition and did not show aggression towards people. Among the animals in the family, in addition to King, there were also cats, dogs, parrots, hedgehogs, raccoons, snakes and the dog Chap. Twenty-four hours a day the lion cub was under constant attention. At first he was fed milk from a pacifier. Then, when the lion cub grew up, they switched to meat... The lion cub was given a sonorous name - King, which means King. From a little runt, King turned into a real king of beasts before our eyes. A year later he was already a mighty handsome man with a proud posture and a luxurious mane. And his noble character fully corresponded to his royal origin.
“My husband Lev Lvovich adored all living creatures,”remembers Nina Berberova - Therefore, in our hundred-meter apartment, in addition to me, daughter Eva and son Roma, there were many animals and birds. And the lion cub did not appear by chance. One day my daughter and I decided to take a little walk around the Baku Zoo. In one of the cages, Eva saw a small, pitiful gray lump and told me: “Mommy, look, the dog is dying there.” I answered: “Daughter, this is not a dog, this is a little lion cub, the king of animals. He is probably sick.” I begged the director of the zoo to give us this unfortunate baby.
We had a veterinarian friend, Mikhail Smirnov, who helped us deliver the lion cub. We named our king of beasts, naturally, King. When the lion cub got a little stronger, grew up and turned into beautiful lion, we wanted to return him to the zoo. But when they tried to take him there, he caused a real scandal and almost overturned the car. We were told that he would no longer be able to live either in the zoo or in the wild. We had to leave our pet."
The story of keeping a lion in a city apartment became very famous in the USSR; several films were made about the family and the tame lion. documentaries. Scientists followed the experiment with interest. King became a silver screen star after starring in several films - "The Lion Left Home", "A Girl, a Boy and a Lion" and especially "The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia." Lev Lvovich Berberov quit his job as an architect and became the “producer” of the King of Beasts.
Nina Berberova:“King adored Lev Lvovich and treated me tenderly, apparently understanding that I was a woman! Either the male’s jealousy awoke in him, or there was another reason for this, but as soon as he felt his adolescence, King began to spend the night in our marital bed between me and Lev Lvovich. And very often on such nights I woke up from a roar and found my husband on the floor next to the bed. It was King who pushed his master out of bed, since he did not understand that in such a situation the third wheel... So the late Lev Lvovich, by the grace of his pupil, got himself more than one bump."
From the memoirs of photographer Vladimir Alekseev, who often visited the Berberovs, pulled the mane of a huge lion and, by the will of fate, was an eyewitness to the bloody denouement.
"They covered King with heating pads, fed him all sorts of mixtures from the nipple. At first, the lion cub's front paws did not work at all. So they massaged them alternately all day long. Gradually the lion began to walk, but the defect remained for the rest of his life. If you look closely, in "Extraordinary adventures..." can be seen when King runs down the street, his front paws rake like flippers. King grew up big, big, handsome, beautiful. And a kind-hearted man - the likes of which the world has never seen. King behaved exactly like an ordinary one domestic cat. The only problem: this “cat” tried to lick the guest, and the lion’s tongue was like sandpaper. But if he was really annoying, you could point at him and push him away. The lion resignedly went into a corner or climbed onto the mezzanine, where his rightful place was."
Artistic abilities manifested themselves in King as early as childhood, when he acted out various scenes with his toy friend Boniface - a stuffed lion. At the same time, he demonstrated ingenuity unusual for such a beast. Later, these qualities were noticed in him by Azerbaijani filmmakers, who cast him in two films: “The Girl, the Boy and the Lion” and “The Lion Left Home.”
True, the neighbors were not happy to be next door to the movie star. A smell emanated from a spacious apartment on the second floor in a prestigious area of Baku - something like hanging up an ax and putting on a gas mask. And then a lion appeared!.. Moreover, King from time to time, often in the middle of the night, announced his royal origin with a loud roar. Dozens of people living in neighboring apartments jumped up in a cold sweat. We walked King on a leash early in the morning in the park, but when we entered the entrance, no, no, we ran into neighbors. Not everyone could bear it calmly when they were pressed against the wall by a two-hundred-kilogram lion carcass on a flight of stairs.
About the friendship of a lion and a dog
“The balcony of our apartment overlooked the roof, we put a net on it so that King could not climb out into the street, and we calmly let him walk throughout the living space,- recalls Nina Berberova. - Sometimes, when he got bored, he would come into my husband’s and my bedroom, climb onto the bed, push me or Leva off it, lie down on his back with his stomach up and fall asleep soundly. In the morning I woke up with everyone else, had breakfast, and played with the children. They dragged him by the mustache, rode him like a horse: they could do anything with him, he was not offended by anything and never snapped.
King was friendly not only to all two-legged animals, but also to four-legged ones: he respected all the animals that were in our house. I especially became friends with Chap, a small black dog that weighed less than four kilograms. Chap was already six years old when King appeared, so he considered himself a kind of “grandfather”, and King as a youth. If the “youth” tried to play pranks, tiny Chap would run after him around the apartment and bark. The huge King crawled under the table and tucked his tail. They also slept together: first King lay down, and then Chap settled on his huge “plush” paws. They ate from the same bowl: Chap tried the “dish” first, then King came up. Chap was tiny and ate very little, while King needed a whole refrigerator of food for lunch: several kilograms of meat, eggs, fish oil. Our salary was small, and it was very difficult to feed a huge adult lion. So we had to do a side hustle: accept filming offers. Work in “The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia” became stellar for our King and last hour" .
Deadly game and worldwide fame - "Posthumously"
As temporary living space for the period of filming in “The incredible adventures of Italians in Russia” gave the Berberovs a whole school. Every day a car with a loudspeaker drove around Leningrad and warned that a lion lived at such and such a school and you should not approach this place. But this public ban did not affect everyone.
Nina Berberova: “That day, our assistant Sasha was playing football with King in the school gym. The huge windows of this room overlooked the apple orchard. Sasha left King alone for a few minutes: he went to pour himself some tea. And, apparently, at that moment Markov appeared (I will never forget his name.) King saw a new man and approached the window. According to eyewitnesses, Markov began to make faces and jump, turning his face and then his back to the lion. For King, this was a call to play: our assistant rehearsed this way. there is an episode for "The Italians" when a lion runs after a man and knocks him to the ground. He stood on it. hind legs, squeezed out the glass in the window, ran to this Markov, threw him to the ground. The girl waiting for him at the fence shouted: “Help, a lion is tearing a man!” And then we heard shots. Then we learned that police lieutenant Gurov was returning from his lunch break. He heard screams, ran up to the fence, not understanding what was happening, and shot at King. The lion immediately moved away from the guy broken window. But Gurov, apparently, got excited, and he unloaded the entire clip at King. Student Valentin Markov escaped with only minor scratches."
Thus ended the life of the movie star - the King of Beasts. Everyone was very worried and cried. After the film was released abroad, King came to world fame. Posthumously.
From the memoirs of Eva Berberova: "Dad jumped out the window and ran towards the clap. King was lying on his side, not far from the fence, with wide-open surprised eyes. Not realizing what was happening, dad rushed to King, hugged him, but King was no longer breathing. At that moment, mom ran up A woman’s voice was heard from a small crowd near the fence: “Your lion tore a man apart”... The next morning, everyone was traveling in an open truck. King was covered with some kind of mourning blanket, the headwind moved the mane of the dead lion. We headed to the writer’s dacha. Yakovlev, where the lion had recently visited and where they decided to bury him. I remember a hitch when they started to remove King from the car, the huge circus performer Yura, who worked with us in the film, weeping, pulled everyone away, took King on his shoulders and carried him to him. young oak.
We realized that an irreplaceable part of the soul goes to the grave with King, that this animal, who came to us as a terminally ill cub, was seriously ill many times and was saved by us from death, responded to us with love, devotion, spiritual communication and closeness, becoming our own son, kinship with whom we will be proud all our lives..."
But Chap suffered the most. When we returned to Baku, boxes with King’s things were left in the corridor: collars, leashes, bowls. Chap first ran around, wagging his tail, looking for King, and then climbed into one of the boxes, lay there and sighed. The veterinarian said that he would not live long because he was in a pre-heart attack condition. And indeed, the next day Chap was gone too.
The death of the lion caused serious psychological trauma to family members. At night, the children Eva and Roma screamed hysterically in their sleep: “Kika! Kika! Let’s go home! Kika, don’t go!” It was necessary to save the children. So a second lion cub appeared in the Berberov family, which was also named King in memory of the first lion...
"I was against having a second lion, but the husband insisted on his own, -It was as if Nina Berberova had a presentiment of trouble.- Yes, and the Moscow intelligentsia was very excited about this idea. Sergei Obraztsov, Yuri Yakovlev, Vladimir Vysotsky, Marina Vladi collected money and began to look all over for a new lion cub Soviet Union. Found in the Kazan Zoo. He spent a month in quarantine in Moscow, then he was solemnly presented to us. The second King was not at all like our first favorite: we saved him from death, and he thanked us for this with respect and good attitude, this one demanded to be respected."
In 1975, based on real facts from the life of the Berberov family, director Konstantin Bromberg and screenwriter Yuri Yakovlev made the film “I Have a Lion.” The main roles were played by King II, Roma and Eva Berberov. King II loved Roma most of all. He became very attached to the boy and obeyed him unquestioningly. Roma rode around King as if he were not a lion, but a racing stallion. But what was allowed to Roma was not allowed to the other members of the film group. King did not tolerate familiarity. Thus, director Bromberg's attempt to make a lion jump into cold river ended badly. King bit Bromberg's leg. The lion's fang left a wound eight centimeters deep in the director's thigh... Another time, the lion chopped off half the finger of the camera assistant when he, with a sharp movement, brought a tape measure to his mouth - measuring the distance from the lion's nose to the movie camera. In the end, not without losses, the film starring King II was made. Both children and adults watched it with pleasure... The Berberovs were already negotiating with the studio. Gorky about a new film project. Alas, fate decreed otherwise. The life of King the Second turned out to be as tragic as the life of King the First.
Tragedy - death in the clutches of the King
An idyll reigned in this family, which gave fantastic hopes for the possibility of different relationships between people and animals. All-Union fame is all-Union fame. Heydar Aliyev, who then headed the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, ordered to help the Berberovs. Moreover, the authorities provided them with all possible assistance and provided meat for the animals. They even gave us a minibus, which was an unprecedented act at that time. And suddenly everything collapsed. Tragic events went one after another. In 1978, after the death of the head of the family, Lev Berberov, from a heart attack, his wife and children found it difficult to handle the lion, and they planned to transfer him to the Berlin Zoo, but these plans could not be realized.
Nina Berberova:“The Second King still considered Lev Lvovich to be the “leader of the pack” and obeyed him, but in 1978 my husband died of a heart attack, and I was left alone with two children, a lion and a house full of animals. First, the Second King was looking for his owner, he called him when he found Leva’s things, lay down on them and hugged me with his paws, he also obeyed me and never showed aggressiveness, so no one even thought about the danger.”
On November 24, 1980, in a fit of aggression, the lion seriously injured Nina Berberova and killed her 14-year-old son Roman. The police arrived and killed the lion and puma.
“That day became a nightmare for me,”recalls Nina Berberova.- In the morning I went to the publishing house: a book was being prepared for printing that my husband and I wrote about all our pets. Then she hurried home to feed the children and animals. When I entered the apartment, I smelled the acrid smell of smoke. The second King behaved very strangely, growled and rushed towards the balcony net. Puma Lyalya jumped onto the sofa and hid in the corner. I went up to the balcony and saw that our neighbor, a complete alcoholic, was setting fire and throwing pieces of a plastic comb at the lion. I exploded: “What are you doing?! I’ll call the police now!” At this time, Roma’s son returned from school. First I sat him down to eat, then I started working on Second King. She chopped the meat and took the bowl to him. At that time, the lion climbed onto the mezzanine, hung from it, fell off and fell with all his strength on his back, jumped up and rushed at me. He tore my head with his paw and threw me on my back."
14-year-old Roman came running to his mother’s cry, grabbed King by the collar, but intoxicated with blood, an angry lion killed his son in front of his mother’s eyes - the lion’s paw tore off the guy’s scalp and broke the cervical vertebrae...
Nina Berberova:"I lost consciousness. I woke up only when the shots started. The policemen, who were called by the neighbors, climbed onto the roof from all sides and began shooting. They finished off Second King when they had already broken down the door. At that time, the frightened puma jumped out into the street and immediately received a bullet in her heart. Although she did not intend to attack anyone, she was also frightened by everything that was happening.”
This happened thirty years ago... From Nina Petrovna for a long time hid the death of their son. She found out about this only after leaving the hospital, after which she fell ill again for three months. She didn’t want to live, but a friend saved her and came out, he made her believe in herself and in the future. She and Kazim got married. Children were born.
“The doctors miraculously saved my life, but I lost my son, whom I loved madly,” Nina Petrovna indulges in difficult memories. “After what happened, I didn’t want to live at all, I thought about suicide. My daughter and friend Kazim (Kazim Abdullaev - Azdrama actor, honored artist). I married him, gave birth to two more children, Farhad and Rachel. We no longer keep wild animals at home, now we only have dogs, cats and a parrot. I don’t hold a grudge against the Second King. “I’m a beast, not a man, and I didn’t understand what I was doing. The only thing I can’t forgive myself is that I didn’t save my first-born son Roma.”
Many birds and animals still live in Nina Petrovna Berberova’s Baku apartment, but there are no longer lions among them. Only in the most prominent place are photographs of King Sr. and King Jr. displayed. One of them shows Roma tightly hugging King Jr. Double tragedy - the boy died and the lion died. But man and animal loved each other so much...
When preparing this article, materials from websites were used:
The tragedy in the Berberov family, who popularized the love of animals by their example, happened in 1980. Not only relatives and friends were deeply shocked by what happened. The Berberov family's foster lion King II killed his owner's 14-year-old son and seriously injured her. Many professionals from dynasties of trainers of predatory animals then said: “This was to be expected! Keeping predators, particularly lions, is inappropriate at home.”
This tragic story of the Berberov family began long before 1980.
Back in 1970, the family of Baku architect Lev Berberov took in a little lion cub that was dying in the zoo. The lioness mother did not recognize him. Predatory beast came out, tamed him, and he became a grateful and loving member of the family. Lev Berberov, his wife Nina and two small children Eva and Roman completely dissolved in this unusual proximity to a predatory pet.
King acted in films, in particular in the famous film by E. Ryazanov “ Extraordinary Adventures Italians of Russia,” was a favorite of the Soviet public and, unfortunately, died in 1974 under tragic circumstances.
After the death of the lion King, the Berberov family, on the advice of many friends, “adopted” a new pet, calling him King II. But the previous harmony in the family no longer worked; the new predatory guest was only superficially similar to his predecessor, his character was not flexible. This became especially aggravated after the death of the head of the family, Lev Berberov, in 1978.
Nina Berberova, left without her husband, with two children, a huge aggressive lion King II, a cougar and a host of more pets in her arms, wondered whether this “experiment” was worth continuing. That’s what this long-term union of a lion and people living in the same apartment was called back then.
During the time of the Berberov lion King II, two more films were made with his participation, and a book was written about what it is like to raise a real ruler of the wild at home.
Nina felt the approach of tragedy. King II's aggression increased; he never recognized anyone as the head of the pride after the death of Lev Berberov.
Berberova reached an agreement with the Berlin Zoo, and was soon ready to give away King II. But I didn’t have time. Provoked by the stupid cruelty of his neighbors, who threw burning pieces of a plastic comb at him, King II attacked the owner. Nina's son Roman Berberov died while trying to help his mother. The lion was shot, and the puma, which tried to escape, also died. A terrible picture.
The unfortunate woman learned about the death of her son only after 3 months, which she spent in the hospital, healing terrible wounds.
She subsequently got married and gave birth to two more children, but said with tears: “I will never forgive myself for the death of my son.”
The Berberov family and Lev King II have become an edifying example to all those who take it upon themselves to keep predatory animals at home.
Man is not the king of nature; there are situations when he becomes a victim, rightfully weak in front of a predator, when it would seem that everything is under control.
Living with a loving family for several years did not stop the Berberov lion King II's aggressive predatory instincts, as he mercilessly attacked, killed and maimed those who may have been dear to him.
Victoria Maltseva
There were no veterinarians in the Berberov family, much less professional trainers. Berberov Sr., whose name, by the way, was Lev, worked as an engineer, and his wife Nina managed the house. The couple had two children, Roma and Eva. They all loved animals very much. At different times, their city apartment in Baku was inhabited by dogs, cats, raccoons, and snakes. However, this was not enough for the Berberovs.
One day at the local zoo they saw a little lion cub, who, by decision of the administration, was going to be euthanized because his mother had died. However, by some miracle the Berberovs managed to persuade the zoo management to give them the lion cub to raise. Soon King (as the predator was called) turned into a huge, strong animal, and the Berberovs themselves became celebrities. Articles and documentaries about the life of the family spread throughout the Union.
But the happiness turned out to be short-lived. King died. This happened during the filming of the film “The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia,” in which the famous lion took part. The predator attacked the man, and a passing policeman shot the animal with his service weapon. The Berberovs unanimously argued that the victim, who escaped with scratches, was himself to blame for the fact that the lion behaved aggressively. Allegedly, the young man was teasing the beast.
Inspired by the post below about a Novosibirsk resident who got a lion cub at home.
What would it be like for you to wake up every morning in the same house as a lion? What if a cougar walks nearby? The size and potential for aggression of these animals does not allow us to even think about keeping them at home instead of a kitten or dog. Some people still decide to have one in their home. large predators like a lion or a panther, but, unfortunately, this does not always end well for them. Bright to that example - Berberovs. The tragedy happened to the son of this family precisely because of their unreasonable desire for domestic exotics. This happened back in 1980. Then the news about the incident in the Azerbaijani family quickly spread throughout 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 Eva. According to Nina Berberova, her husband loved animals very much. They had many pets. Among them were cats, dogs, parrots, raccoons and snakes. When the opportunity arose, they did not refuse to hire someone larger. This is where it starts sad story Berberovs. One day at the zoo they saw a sick lion cub that they wanted to put to sleep. The Berberovs decided to save the poor animal by taking it home. After a while, the strengthened lion King became a full-fledged member of their family.
Not born free.
As Nina Petrovna admits, they had an idea to return the adult lion to the zoo, but the animal staged a real rebellion against this. Resisting with all his might, King almost overturned the car in which he was brought, although he was not at all aggressive. In the 1986 film Born Free, based on the story of the same name by Joy Adamson, the family that fostered a lioness named Elsa eventually releases her to freedom in wild environment. However, the Berberovs were informed that King would no longer be able to live in freedom. Unlike Elsa (“Born Free”), this lion, according to experts, was completely unprepared for such a life. So King remained with the Berberovs until his death.
Stellar career King
A tamed lion is a godsend for many filmmakers. King began to be cast in films. The most famous film with his participation is “The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia.” Of course, the ubiquitous press couldn’t ignore a family with an unusual pet. At that time, their family made headlines in many popular publications, and several documentaries were made about them. But it was clear from everything that the Berberov family did not keep the lion in their apartment for the sake of 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 into their family bed to spend the night. The head of the family ended up on the floor more than once as a result of this. IN Everyday life King behaved like a normal house cat: he licked guests and hid in a corner when they shouted at him.
Neighbors' confusion
Lev Berberov, of course, more than once made their neighbors worry. First of all, they were irritated by the terrible stench coming from their apartment. The opportunity to have an apartment in a prestigious area of Baku now seemed to them not so great. In addition, this rather large kitten needed daily walking. Surely the neighbors tried not to leave their apartments during that morning period 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 this. And what a roar must have been heard when the lion shifted from its hind legs to its front legs, playing with the dog Chapik...
Death of King That day turned out to be one of the most difficult that the Berberovs had ever experienced. The tragedy occurred during the filming of a film about Italians in Russia. The lion was standing at the window when a young man appeared behind the glass and began to tease the animal in every possible way. King was very playful by nature, this behavior of the young man prompted him to stand on his hind legs, squeeze out the glass, run up to the young man and knock him to the floor. Nina Berberova is sure that the lion was prompted to do this primarily by his behavior young man. And secondly, on film set he was just being trained in a scene where he had to catch up with a man and throw him to the ground. Be that as it may, King paid for this action with his life.
At that moment, a police officer was passing by, who had a weapon with him. It is now difficult to say how this fight between King and the young man would have ended without the intervention of the police, because it is not completely known whether the lion had such harmless intentions. In the end, for the man it all ended with only a few scratches, and the lion lost his life. The day after the death of the animal, the Berberovs’ dog died, and the family members themselves fell into deep despondency.
King II
Soon after the death of the lion, the Berberovs, whose tragedy in their lives had greatly wounded their psyche, decided to get King II. As Nina Petrovna admits, she was against this idea, but Lev Lvovich insisted. At that time, Vladimir Vysotsky and Marina Vladi, writer Yuri Yankovsky and screenwriter Sergei Obraztsov provided Berberov with great assistance in acquiring a new lion cub. A new member of the Berberov family is a pet from the Kazan Zoo. The story of the new lion cub in this family began in a completely different way. He didn't need any care. But from the very beginning he began to demand respect for himself. He fell in love with Roma Berberov very much and obeyed him unquestioningly in everything. The boy could even ride the 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 real facts of life 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 showed his predatory nature more than once. For example, when Konstantin Bromberg, the film's director, demanded that the lion jump into cold water, he stuck a sharp fang into 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 filmed to the end, and the public liked it. After such a successful ending, King was invited to star in another film, but it didn’t work out...
Death of Lev Lvovich Berberov
In 1978, the Berberovs experienced another grief. This time tragedy happened to the head of the family. Lev Lvovich died from heart attack, leaving his wife fully responsible for the children and full house animals. By the way, one of the large animals in the Berberovs’ house was also a black puma. Chapter communist party provided the Berberov family with invaluable assistance at that time. Meat was provided for the animals, they were even given a minibus. However, keeping the lion at that time became an unbearable burden for the Berberovs; they planned to hand it over to the zoo in the near future. King II also had a hard time coping with the death of the “leader.” At first he looked for him everywhere. Then he began to take out Lev Lvovich’s things, lay down on them with his entire massive body and hugged them with his huge paws. According to Nina Petrovna, he then did not become more aggressive towards her and the children.
Murder of Roma Berberov and King II
The day of November 24, 1980 began in the most ordinary way for both Nina Petrovna and her son Roma and pet King. This day became the worst in the woman’s life and the last in the lives of Roma and King later. Nina Petrovna went to the publishing house in the morning about the book. Berberova came up with the idea of publishing a creation she and her husband shared 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 took the meat to the room where the lion was. The animal suddenly attacked her with its entire massive body, knocked her to the floor and severely tore her head. This was not entirely normal behavior for him. There are several versions about how 14-year-old Roma Berberov was killed by a lion. One of them says that the beast was intoxicated by the blood that appeared on Nina Petrovna’s head after he scratched her. According to another alleged 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. The police who arrived at the scene shot the lion, and along with it the puma.
Future life Nina Berberova
Nina Petrovna found out about her son’s death only after she was discharged from the hospital. The shocking news knocked the woman off her feet again; she spent three months in the hospital. She did not want to live, she thought about suicide. Her daughter, as well as her friend, actor Kazim Abdullaev, who later became her husband, helped her get out of this extremely depressed situation. The family of Kazim Abdullaev and Nina Berberova had two children. The woman has no desire to keep wild animals at home anymore. 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 a grudge against the second King, as she understands that he was a predator. But she still hasn’t removed the blame for her son’s death.
In Russia it is not prohibited 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 a lot of work. But this is probably for the best, because the lions and panthers roaming freely on the street represent great danger for ordinary residents. This kind of exoticism can be expensive not only for others, but also for those who tamed the animal. The tragedy of the Berberov family that has spread around the world clearly proves that there is no place for a wild animal in a civilized society.