Thirty years on: Remembering Jambo the 'gentle giant'

Credit: Durrell

Today marks 30 years since a young boy fell into the gorilla enclosure at Durrell Wildlife Park and met Jambo the silverback.

Channel Television captured footage of the encounter, in which Jambo the 'gentle giant' stood protectively over Levan Meritt, who was just four years old at the time.

Keepers at Durrell in 1986 managed to get the child out safely, after successfully luring the gorillas away so that medical staff could attend to him.

Richard Johnstone-Scott, who was the keeper at the time, says the event changed the perception of gorillas all over the world.

Watch the original footage of the encounter below: