On August 30 1986 Levan Merritt was knocked unconscious when he fell 20 feet into a gorilla’s enclosure at Jersey Zoo in the UK’s Channel Islands.
While his family stood by aghast, the giant ape inside the enclosure made a beeline for the young boy and then stood guard as other apes started to circle. Then in a moment both horrifying and touching, the gorilla reached out and gently stroked Levan’s back.
The dramatic video footage made headlines around the world and the ape, a 7ft tall, 115kg, Silverback male named Jambo became a star.
Recalling the event 30 years on, Leven told the Daily Mail that he was shocked when he first saw the video footage. “I was in hospital and I remember being incredibly surprised and quite shocked. I obviously couldn’t believe what had happened,” he said.
Leven spent six weeks in the hospital following the incident, but was invited back to the zoo following his recovery and has maintained links with them ever since.
“I am forever thankful to Jambo as obviously it could have gone one or two ways. It was amazing how he protected me in that way,” he says.
While Levan says that he is proud to have helped change the public’s perception of gorilla’s, he went on to be bullied because of the incident. Classmates at his school teased him and called him names such as Gorilla Boy and Tarzan. “It was a difficult time but I just tried to shrug it off,” he says.
Levan is 35 now and works in timber manufacturing. He is still an animal lover and says his kids are following in his footsteps too.
“I often take them to Tilgate Park in Crawley which has a little zoo, but I would like to take them to Jersey Zoo. I am hoping to take them this year if possible, but if not, the one after,” he says.
“I have been quite a few times and it always makes me feel lucky to be here.”
Watch the dramatic moment that Jambo approaches Levan in the video below.
