Feeding his lion ROTA at the London Zoo: Sir Winston Churchill giving the lion a piece of meat from a hook on the end of a pole - Sir Winston Churchill has paid several visits to the London Zoo to see his lion Roda who, as a cub, was won in a raffle by a Mr George Thomson of Pinner, who took it to his home, and when it began to grow up kept it in a cage in his garden. On May 29 1940 Mr Thomson deposited Rota in the London Zoo and subsequently presented the lion to the Zoological Society. In February 1943, Rota was presented to Sir Winston Churchill, who said that he was very pleased to accept the lion providing he had not got to keep it at Downing Street or Chequers. Rota is the father of most of the lion cubs born at the Zoo in recent years.