The Gentle Guardian On August 31, 1986, a 5-year-old boy fell into the gorilla pit at Jersey Zoo. Levan Merritt lay unconscious. Jambo, a 25-stone silverback, approached. He didn't attack. He stroked the boy's back gently. Then stood guard, blocking other gorillas, until keepers rescued the child.
Source
BBC News, 2016, 'Jambo the gorilla: How a boy's fall changed primate perception'; Jersey Evening Post archive footage from August 31, 1986
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