The Lion King

I’ve been sleeping with my lions and haven’t even thought about going home,” says Tim Bovard, pointing toward a gray bedroll and a bag of clothes in a corner of his workshop. He’s standing beside a pair of Tanzanian lion skins—one male, one female—that were taken out of deep freeze at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles several days ago.

“The skins are about 30 years old, and we have to keep them supple