Human and Gorilla Reunite after 5 years

of and trust one that's as moving as it is unique it's an unforgettable reunion between a gorilla called kwibi and the man who raised him and then released him into the wild zookeeper Damian Aspinall waited five years before returning to Africa to check up on his old mate he didn't really expect qui be to remember him he couldn't have been more wrong Damian Aspinall is on a very special mission deep in the African jungle this is no easy expedition it's like searching for a needle in a haystack Damian's trying to locate a gorilla called query who he hand raised in England and released into the wilds of Gabon five years ago he was a very very sweet brother what one of the first pillars we took back to the Gabon and released back into the world I wasn't quite sure how he was going to react he'd attacked the last couple of sort of human contacts that he'd come across so he was considered dangerous [Music] but after days of searching a familiar face appears from the dense jungle canopy when I found him and jumped out of the boat along to the side of the river halfway I was thinking it was just gonna go wrong Dameon briefs his team to distract wedi if he turns hostile to throw food if it kicks off and secondly when we want to go throw food but throw it away from us not near us what happens next is the most tender of reunions [Music] I knew as I got onto the riverbank and I heard his gorillas have a deep love goggle I knew then that um that I was okay I love Google here it was extraordinary really it was probably one of the great moments of my life he embraced me and was talking to me all the time all the time he's talking to me I was fine I was actually a bit more worried when he started introducing me to his wives because some of them were wild-caught and they don't know me he thoroughly embraced you he did yeah I didn't want me to go like an old friend yeah very very sweet and it was actually very difficult leaving him he didn't want me to leave to understand this unique bond Damian Aspinall has formed with Queenie you need to understand his unique childhood his father John was an eccentric gambler who opened a string of casinos in the 60s and turned the family's English manner into a free-range zoo young damien was literally raised with wild animals and especially the family's gorillas it sounds off for most people but it's because it was you know there were just gorillas in the house and Tigers in the house and wolves in the house it was a completely ordinary I didn't find it strange at all and today Damien has not just inherited but expanded what his father stuff I think feeling Gosar then I take your finger or anything today as I discovered trying to get out interview under way no man I think we've been replaced this is you in Lima form and this is me easily well mostly both better looking would you like to interview Damien it's pretty obvious this is no ordinary zoo the Damian Aspinall is certainly no ordinary zookeeper in fact he's the most unlikely of animal activists they need I guess for want of a better word an ambassador to to protect them and look after their interest there's enough people looking after human interests and I don't think there's enough people looking after the interests of animals so I feel very passionate that I have to fight for them and try and protect what I think is rightfully theirs you're gonna get the whole line Oh Damien has established a groundbreaking program which he calls guerilla school the mission to teach these captive gorillas born and bred in the English countryside to live wild and free in Africa [Music] watching Damien work and play with some of the most powerful animals on earth is quite amazingly gorillas this size could kill a man in seconds raising a boy but to Damien they're friends all God isn't they're incredibly strong and powerful animals aren't they oh yeah yeah you could put five Mike Tyson's and with once all that they wouldn't stand a chance they could snap your arm like a twig like a toothpick from his casino Millions he funds the aspinall Foundation which breeds more gorillas than any other program in the world on this large estate in the English countryside which looks more like an African wildlife century variety of diet is terribly important in the wild they have about 140 different types of food and we give our gorillas about 130 different types of food he has more than 80 gorillas on the estate and would love for them all to be free in Africa but that's a slow and carefully controlled process we protect 1.2 million acres of wilderness in Africa and we've reintroduced 53 gorillas back into the wild and they've had 18 offspring it all looks easy now but but actually it was very very difficult and took a long time to do but he also saves dozens of other critically endangered animals like the clouded leopard with a particular fondness for the place of Caravan what can we extract what would you pay us right now it's a sure you don't get a bite they're certainly not tamed pits but Damien is comfortable getting up close in person how rare are these in the wild are these very rare these critically endangered animals hello hello good look of the year this was when he took the year off the last person yeah yeah yeah about this point [Laughter] that's crazy isn't it well I have a cloudy leopard on my back oh he's okay yeah isn't this amazing isn't this amazing yeah and then there's ambam the six-foot silverback who walks and looks like well one of us [Music] ambam became a star when he was caught on camera walking upright when you look into a gorillas face do you see the similarities when you're looking into their eyes between us and in a mean gorilla can have a mean face and a crying gorilla can have a kind face just as you can see that within humans but the zoo's unique ways have come at a cost with five keepers killed and several other workers and tourists severely injured it looks like they're ready for you now alright have fun in there we'll see it through the vents these days human interaction with animals is heavily restricted but the rules don't apply to Damien he believes that contact is important [Music] you have to get to that level of trust with a wild animal whether that they would absolutely never mean to to harm you because they consider you part of their part of the tribal their family but there's absolutely no one way they had everyone harmed me they protect me [Music] that very unique bond is no greater than with cui be back in the jungle there was bore to that remarkable reunion between Damien and his favorite gorilla qui vie did not want Damien to leave then when I did go he followed the boat all the way back to camp and then he nested the other side of my heart on the other side of the river anyway still morning and he's calling me in the night and the very next morning when cui B was still there nestled in the river Nate we be a lovely boy I can see you sorry touching that isn't it I mean it's incredibly touching you know it's it's not easy to get that sort of depth of friendship with a human relationship let alone a-- an animal and it's a very very deep bond it was obvious it is i mean and i like you know i can consider the bond i have not just with the gorillas but a lot of the animals here but obviously particularly the gorillas as good as any bond or better than any bomb within humans because of that bond and thanks to damien these gorillas have a future we're the living wild in the African century all to a ripe old age on his English estate they're so smart and beautiful and their strength is so obvious and they're so restrained in their strength you know there could be such bullets but or not I don't know I could live my life without being surrounded by these animals [Music] Chappell Kobe throw away the key that's next on 60 minutes super termites like you've never seen before on a Current Affair

Channel: TVFIRST4YOU

Views: 5,686,005

Rating: 4.9312954 out of 5

Keywords: 60 Minutes (TV Program), Amazing, Australia (Country), Sydney, Cool

Id: nEUlUfhQbNw

Length: 11min 41sec (701 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 03 2012