tany had grown up side to side with
several gorillas and her bond with one
of them was simply stunning but when she
left she believed he’d forget it all
about her she was warned not to meet him
again years later but watch what he did
when he saw
her tany Aspen and her father Damian
were excited to see the animals that
they once loved so
fiercely they traveled on a boat and
until they saw the gorillas a short
distance from the shore they desperately
wanted to get down and greet them but
they had been warned not to get too
close these animals had been returned to
the wild for years and might not enjoy
their presence but tany didn’t believe
it in her heart she hoped they would
still have the same fond memories that
she had with them they were family or
were they these gorillas had built
amilies in the wild families that had
never been in captivity getting too
close was risky that was what everyone
said not that tany
listened as they went down the river
they saw heads popping up between the
bushes gorillas were watching them
closely tany knew the gorilla she raised
even if he had changed a lot she
recognized him immediately among the
group The Boat stopped and she jumped
out despite the warnings from her father
and their guides the gorilla got closer
jalta was once a tiny baby she held in
her arms now he towered over her he
stood on his back legs and came straight
toward tany there was no way that anyone
could stop the gorilla now no one could
get between them if something happened
tanzy was on her own jalta got closer
then suddenly he grabbed tanzy by the
arm her father wanted to rush forward
but he knew that he could make matters
much worse if he startled the gorilla
was this the way it would end tany had
spent her life loving gorillas would one
of them injure her now she couldn’t
believe that her childhood best friend
would ever hurt her but it really looked
like he was going to harm her was their
friendship
over the odd bond between tany and
jalter had started as a consequence of
her father Damian’s mission to save
animals and to do that he started the
Aspen
Foundation they worked hard to rescue
animals and gorillas especially and
return them to the wild they also owned
the howlet zoo in Canterbury When
Animals couldn’t be rehabilitated and
returned to the wild they were cared for
in the zoo it is safe to say that tany
and her siblings had a magical
upbringing they all grew up in the zoo
and bonded with the animals there
tany was a little over a year old when
bims the gorilla first came to the zoo
he was injured and his family was killed
by poachers he needed to be cared for
Daman and his team took on this
responsibility tany and her siblings
were always around the zoo and soon they
were around bims too it was like he was
one of their
Playmates as tany grew up she often
played inside the gorilla enclosure
making sure that bim’s never never felt
alone it was loads of fun having a
gorilla as a playmate they didn’t know
it was going to get even
better one day when Damen picked tamy up
from school he said that there was a big
surprise waiting for her at home the
surprise was big indeed in the form of a
big baby
gorilla jalta was an orphan that could
not survive in the wild on his own when
his mother was killed he was still tiny
he needed someone to care for him and
feed him he couldn’t just be placed in
an enclosure at the zoo gorillas are
family animals and they needed to give
that type of family feeling to the
little infant he needed to be fed and
loved and now tany was old enough to
help to do that she made sure the
gorilla ate his fill and held him when
he was scared she helped raise him but
of course her unusual baby brother was
going to grow way quicker than any human
sibling would have it wasn’t long before
he couldn’t live in their home anymore a
gorilla isn’t exactly a house pet it was
time for jelter to move to the
zoo they still didn’t want him to be
alone and he wouldn’t be there was
another gorilla bims waiting to welcome
jalta to their enclosure they needed to
be careful though bims was a lot bigger
than jalta and if he didn’t want to be
friends he could seriously injure the
younger male
they allowed the two gorillas to see
each other through a gate first the two
touched each other’s faces and tried to
play Bim showed a surprising gentleness
and it wasn’t long before the experts
felt ready to allow the two to be
together letting them meet couldn’t have
gone
better the two were instant friends both
of them also still adored tany and it
wasn’t too long before she was allowed
to play with them once again they never
got jealous and they were super sweet
with the girl however it wouldn’t be
easy to convince the public that their
friendship was
safe tany was used to going into the
gorilla enclosure whenever she wanted
and hanging out around the Apes wasn’t a
big deal for her so she didn’t even
think to change this habit when a
photography team went to visit the zoo
they probably believed that the world
would love to see the special bond but
that was not how it played out in
instead the public was Furious that tany
or any of the other children were
allowed to interact with the gorillas
without safety measures the Public’s
reaction was so negative that the zoo
was given a warning if they didn’t
Implement safety measures they would get
closed down suddenly tany was not
allowed to touch two of her best friends
jalter and bims could only see her
through the glass of their enclosure she
was old enough to understand the order
hadn’t come from her father but still
too young to know that people were
worried for her safety the gorillas
didn’t understand this either they
wanted to play with their friends and
were sad when they were told they
couldn’t the reaction was heartbreaking
on both parts every day tany came over
to the zoo straight from school she sat
down on the step next to the glass and
as soon as the two gorillas saw her they
rushed over just to be stopped by the
glass jalta would moan softly and tany
would Place her hand on the glass jalta
put his hand on the same spot on his
side of the glass he desperately wanted
to touch
her it was sad but her safety wasn’t the
only reason why she had to start
limiting her interactions with the
gorillas it was time to get them ready
for life in the wild they were old and
strong enough to go back home they
needed to get used to just having each
other and other gorillas around so the
humans started to limit all interactions
with them from that point on as sweet as
they were in the zoo they would need to
toughen out for a life in the
wilderness a few months later they
finished off the training that the
gorillas would need to survive in the
jungle Damian and his colleagues had
been training them from the moment they
came to them the whole purpose of the
foundation was to save those animals and
release them if possible and that was
what was going to happen now regardless
of how tany felt it took a few months
but finally they were ready to start
their journey home to gabin they found a
sanctuary where gorillas would be safe
but at the same time Ram
free it would be the last time that the
family saw them for a very long
time tany got to hug jalter and bims
both before they were given something to
relax them on their Journey the gorillas
were excited to get to her they put
their head on hers and enjoyed the hug
for as long as they were allowed to
there was a special bond between the
girl and the Animals one that now would
be separated by
continents tany watched as the gorillas
were placed in crates and loaded onto
the vehicle it was going to be the first
step on their Journey back to Africa
this was what they all worked for they
all wanted the gorillas to live free
still it was bittersweet for tany it
felt like she was saying goodbye to
family members she might never see again
years went by and Damian went over to
Africa once to check on them the great
news was that they were doing incredibly
well the two gorillas that they helped
to save and raise had joined a family
group they lived as they were meant to
live seeing them in the wild surrounded
by other gorillas made it all worth it
even the heartache of saying goodbye
they were home in Africa but that did
not mean that they were forgotten in
fact tany thought of her old Playmates
often it had been more than a decade
since they returned to Africa and by all
accounts they had become completely wild
gorillas in that time they got nervous
around humans and they didn’t want to
interact with people again so tany was
told she should never try to meet them
again she also grew up and started
working for the foundation just like her
father she helped to rescue loads of
animals then Damen had a health scare
and everything changed he started
planning a trip to Africa as soon as he
was healthy again just to make sure he
would be able to see his favorite place
in the world once again and for the
occasion they would try to locate the
gorillas as well the trip to see jalta
and bims and their family was a long one
it was not a journey that someone older
could take if if he wanted to see the
gorillas one last time he better do it
soon that was the plan but as soon as
tany heard that he was going she wanted
to go too she had to see how the two
gorillas turned out she had helped to
raise jalta and she wanted to see how he
was doing she was excited but
surprisingly no one else was they warned
her not to
go it had been almost 20 years since she
saw the gorillas they were a lot bigger
and completely different it would just
disappoint her to see them they wouldn’t
know her and it was going to ruin her
memories of the
Apes but tany didn’t care what anyone
said she wasn’t going to let her dad go
alone she wanted to see it for herself
Daman was the only one who understood he
agreed that she could go it would give
her peace to see them in their natural
habitat it didn’t matter what happened
beyond that soon they were on their
way the first part of the journey was to
fly to Gabon but there were no roads or
airports near the forest where the
gorillas lived to get there they would
have to travel by off-road vehicle until
they reached a home base where they
would stay for a few days in this way
they could go in search of jta’s family
more than once if they didn’t find them
right away but they couldn’t just hike
into that part of the forest instead
they would take a a small boat and
travel along the
river before they headed out in the
morning the guides in charge of the
sanctuary spoke to them they looked
strict when they told them they couldn’t
just approach the gorillas right away
the guides would watch them and only
when they had decided that the gorillas
were calm could they get
closer under no circumstances were they
allowed to touch or interact with the
gorillas they might have known them in
the past but they were wild now jalta
and bims couldn’t be trusted to be
gentle not anymore they were shocked by
what they saw the first day that they
went
searching as the boat moved along the
river tany and Damien saw faces peeking
out through the trees the gorillas were
watching them they were just as curious
about The Intruders looking for them
tany couldn’t help but gasp the two
gorillas she once knew were watching
them closely they had changed changed a
lot but she recognized them at once she
could cry seeing jalta and bims this
close and when jalta grabbed her with
his powerful hands she felt like
bursting into sobs but her tears would
be of Terror not
happiness as her knees shook threatening
to buckle she looked deep into those
Familiar Eyes and she was sure she saw
recognition then jalta put his head
against hers just like like he’d done
when they’d last said goodbye she ran
her hand over his head like she once did
when he was scared as a
baby he gently rubbed her arms and kept
his head down against her the gorilla
was saying
hello then bims came closer too just
like jalta he knew his old
friend they had all changed but somehow
they knew this woman in front of them
was the same little girl that played
with them so long ago bims used one
finger and gently stroked it down her
face Damian came closer too this time
the Apes jumped up and they started to
hold on to him and roll over him for
some reason they understood that they
could play with him but they had to be
more careful with tany their family
joined them eventually staying at the
edge of the group father and daughter
got to see their natural habitat but the
two gorillas wanted to spend all their
time with the humans who were their
first family the guides were shocked
they didn’t think the gorillas would so
quickly revert back to animals that
loved humans it was pretty clear that
they missed them they were happy to see
Damian but something about the way they
interacted with tany showed real
love the moment they had to go back to
the boats the gorillas moaned softly
worried that they were losing their best
friend again the sight was heartbreaking
breaking the good thing was they had
spent another day with the
gorillas this time as they said goodbye
tany knew that it might be for good
there were no guarantees that she would
be able to come back one day the
gorillas seemed to feel her heartache
they didn’t want to let her go bims kept
hugging her and holding her he didn’t
hold tight still as gentle as ever but
he didn’t want to let go tany was crying
as she pulled his arms away then she
stood in front of jalta her first baby
she loved these gorillas like family but
this one would always have a special
place in her heart he put his head down
on her chest and she kissed the top of
his head she softly told him that she
loved him then she got on the boat the
gorillas watched them leave tany would
forever be grateful that she hadn’t
listened to people who tried to stop her
from going
it was an experience that she would not
give up for anything she loved the
gorillas and now she knew that they
still cared about her
too it was a special bond that was
proven to stay strong through years and
distance they were where they belonged
and tany would do the same go home and
save more animals what a beautiful
example of friendship between different
species would you ever try to meet a
wild animal you knew as a baby after
many years of separation do you think
all animals remember their first family
tell us in the comments below thanks for
watching join us again for even more
incredible stories