Damian Aspinall's Amazing Gorilla Reunion (VIDEO)

This just might be the most beautiful thing you've ever seen ... well, at least since Christian the Lion.

The Aspinall Foundation is a charity that promotes wildlife conservation and reintroduces captive gorillas back into the wild in West Africa. Five years ago, conservationist Damian Aspinall released a gorilla, Kwibi, into the jungles of Gabon. Aspinall returned recently to reunite with a now ten-year-old Kwibi.

How did the reunion go? Words fail me.

JUST WATCH:

Comments

[Sophea No]

05:05 AM on 06/27/2010

I think we should care more about animal, not just save their life from hunting, but should care about their feeling. Some of the country in Asia or in Affrica, people catch a lot of monkies and soll them for food, they eat the monkey's brain. What a suffer? What an evil the people are? For example, there are a lot of monkeys have been catch from Cambodia and sell to Vietnam and China, because of corruption, there are only a few monkey are remaining.

[Edit]

06:32 PM on 05/30/2010

WOW! I saw the video about 10 minutes ago and i'm still crying my eyes out.I cant stop thinking about that sad look the gorgeous Gorilla had in his eyes when he was hugging Damian from behind, not wanting to let him go. It took me back a few years ago to my own personal similar experience with a Chimp. I worked in the Israeli Zoo for many years and raised a baby chimp when his mother didnt want him, after 3 years he and 3 others went to live in Monkey World. England. A couple of years ago I went to visit him and it was beautiful, he remembered of course was wonderful, but when I had to leave it was awful, we both cried, he didnt want to let me go hugging me so hard and looked at me with such sad eyes.After that experience, I'm almost sure I wont do it again. I would advise Damian to do so too,its very confusing for them,the fact that the Gorilla followed him and stayed near camp just goes to show how hard it was for him to "let go". Its hard for humans so imagine how hard it is for those wonderful apes when we cannot even explain our actions to them,all they know is that we are abandoning them yet again. I understand Damian completely but the consequences for those wonderful apes might just be too harsh.

[X Smith]

05:47 PM on 05/24/2010

This reminds me of the "Christian the Lion" video.

[Debra Amerson]

06:28 AM on 05/19/2010

Gorgeous love story. Thanks!

[kyleahealy]

05:51 PM on 05/18/2010

this somehow melts my heart

[Trace Johnson]

05:55 AM on 05/18/2010

it is truely amazing to see the human-animal bond, the gorilla clearly has emotions and sensitivity towards this human that lived with him previously 5 years ago...however, it seems the human, as touched by the reunion of uniting with this gorilla, is the one causing suffering- here it seems the gorilla is experiencing abandonment, as he did 5 years prior to being released, he is running now after the man as he drifts away behind the gorilla's back into the water...at least the man could have spent more time with him and communicated his heart when he had to go so the gorilla could understand in his heart...

[enlightenedgirl]

10:33 PM on 05/17/2010

I have always been touched by Gorilla stories and the connection with humans. I cannot understand why humans think the planet earth is theirs to destroy.

[MarkDTN8]

03:49 PM on 05/17/2010

If this doesn't make people around the globe stand up and wake up to treating nature and animals better, we're in trouble. This is the most beautiful thing to witness, a real connection that places the animal and human relationship on a higher level and at the same that proves we are all connected on some level on this planet. My wish would is that this be shown to companies that perform experiments on primates and make them aware that animals are not here for human gain.

[wdw505]

07:27 AM on 05/18/2010

no just for human use

[Mum]

03:59 AM on 06/26/2010

No, they're not here just for human use, either.

[zkazan]

02:59 PM on 05/17/2010

So sweet, so sad, so real is their mutual loss.

[Puffin16]

02:58 PM on 05/17/2010

Peace.

[TrulyRoxie]

01:48 PM on 05/17/2010

That brought tears to my eyes. So beautiful! I loved that Kwibi introduced his family.

[billb1950]

10:36 AM on 05/17/2010

Fascinating video, the love between kwibi and aspinall. Tragic though for both, kwibi obviously misses aspinall, and to bring back all those feelings love and love lost for kwibi, and then leave again...
It has to be painful for kwibi and aspinall to relive that loss again. While apsinall and his foundation is doing a wonderful things, he didn't tink this through, I thought his actions were self indulgent and self serving. He needs to leave kwibi alone. Aspinall has given kwibi the life and freedom he deserves, kwibi has moved on as he should. Leave him alone.

[kadene]

01:40 PM on 05/18/2010

Let's not get carried away. Kwibi must have sired little gorillas who wandered off and started their own families. He had to deal with that; its part of the life cycle.

[reinzig]

04:50 PM on 05/21/2010

Natural loss of parents, children, friends....those are part of the life cycle. The loss Kwibi experienced when he was separated the first time from his "father" (aspinall) could be called natural and something he "dealt with". Imposition of reunion and separation in a way that is completely outside the natural order by someone outside, without any understanding of their sudden arrival or departure, is an entirely different thing.

[reinzig]

04:48 PM on 05/21/2010

I agree completely. While the love and beauty apparent in this video, I was disturbed by how powerful the return was experienced by Kwibi, how he clung to Aspinall, clearly not wanting him to leave, following him downriver, watching him all night long. I also think this was largely self-serving (not that that's a condemnation, which of us does not do things we are longing to do?), a powerful moment for Aspinall, but without sensitivity to the additional loss experienced by Kwibi.

[smile13]

10:32 AM on 05/17/2010

We are connected to nature not separate from it. It is time for humans to get it together and start taking care of Mother Earth. xo

[valhalladad]

10:20 AM on 05/17/2010

"So this is where you went after the Howard Stern dust up."

[rf dude]

10:11 AM on 05/17/2010

" You look well fed my friend".

" Yeah, it's the home cooking. I gotta keep to the bigger tree-limbs these days. "...