Jambo The Gorilla Made Headlines All Over The World 37 Years Ago

5-year-old Levan Merritt visited to the zoo with his brothers and parents exactly 37 years ago, in 1986. Unfortunately, what was meant to be a nice day quickly turned into a nightmare that the family would recall for the rest of their lives.

Levan (in blue) found himself face to face with one of the most powerful animals in the jungle. His 6-meter fall onto hard concrete rendered him unconscious in the gorilla enclosure. The worst was feared as one of the gorillas, Jambo, walked up to the boy. But instead of harming the boy, Jambo began patting him gently. It soon became clear that Jambo had every intention of protecting Levan – including against the other gorillas in his enclosure.