Rhys Jones: Parents adop lion cub in his memory

Oct 8 2007

Tejas the Asiatic lion cub was born on August 25th at Chester Zoo. Picture: Peter Byrne/PA Wire _320x233

THE parents of gun victim Rhys Jones yesterday adopted a lion cub dedicated to his memory at Chester Zoo.

The 11-year-old’s friend, James Rigby, emailed the zoo after seeing newly-born Tejas on television and, thinking of Rhys, he urged them to dedicate the cub to Rhys because his friend had the “heart of a lion”.

Parents Melanie, 41, and Stephen, 44, from Croxteth Park, visited the zoo and officially adopted the animal.

The couple were given a tour of the zoo by Chester’s head of programmes, Kevin Buley. Mrs Jones described James’s idea as “very touching’’.

He and his classmates will meet Tejas at an outing to the zoo later this month.

Over the weekend, around 25,000 purple ribbons were handed out to shoppers in Liverpool city centre as part of a campaign against gun violence.

Liverpool Unites, was launched by the Daily Post’s sister paper, the Liverpool Echo, in the wake of Rhys’s death.

TO WATCH a video of Tejas the lion cub at Chester Zoo, click here