That's my girl with the gorilla... but she's totally safe, says father who has released 20-year-old home video to show how 'gentle and noble and wonde

By ELIZABETH SANDERSON

Controversial parenting? A photo taken in 1990, before the video

Many will be deeply moved by the sight of a toddler beating her chest with tiny fists while a 300lb gorilla lounges alongside her, eating a kiwi fruit. They will laugh as the two toss straw over their heads and gasp when one of the world’s largest primates leans forward to give the little girl a tender peck on the cheek.
Others, however, will be horrified. More than once, the gorilla gathers the girl in her arms, carrying her off as she would one of her young. The bond between the playmates is unmistakable despite the the grainy VHS footage being more than 20 years old.

Laughing or crying? Video clip of 18-month-old Tansy Aspinall playing alone with one of Dad's gorillas

Many will be deeply moved by the sight of a toddler beating her chest with tiny fists while a 300lb gorilla lounges alongside her, eating a kiwi fruit. They will laugh as the two toss straw over their heads and gasp when one of the world’s largest primates leans forward to give the little girl a tender peck on the cheek.
Others, however, will be horrified. More than once, the gorilla gathers the girl in her arms, carrying her off as she would one of her young. The bond between the playmates is unmistakable despite the the grainy VHS footage being more than 20 years old.

No fear: The toddler was filmed 19 years ago by Damian and has been kept secret because of some fears that it might have provoked a backlash from childcare experts because of the risk

Her father, Damian, has now decided to release the family film via The Mail on Sunday and is making it available on YouTube. It is a controversial decision and Damian, 52, is prepared for criticism but remains unrepentant.
‘This is a family video,’ he says. ‘Before I wouldn’t have released it but now, with the internet it is different. I don’t care if I get a bit of stick because I think the gorillas get a good deal out of it. There’s an upside for them that there wasn’t before. If we can show millions of people how gentle and noble and wonderful these animals are, then I think we’re doing the gorillas a service. I’m happy to take the stick for that.’

Gorilla-hug: The young girl is smothered by the 300lb powerful adult

Tansy, now 23, agrees. She says: ‘I obviously understand that people might find it quite shocking seeing a baby going in with the gorillas because that’s how they have been brought up – to see gorillas in that King Kong kind of way. But really gorillas are such wonderful, gentle animals and they’re so human-like. So I hope it’s a way of people understanding how gentle and kind gorillas really are.’
She was too young to remember the video taken at Howletts, the Palladian mansion that her grandfather, the gambler John Aspinall, bought after a particularly good night at the tables.

Gorilla-loving father Damian Aspinall, 52, with his daughter Tansy Aspinall (now 23)

Aspinall filled the house and grounds with animals, including tigers, wolves and gorillas. He also brought the pets he had kept in his previous home in London’s Eaton Square including a leopard, a Himalayan bear and a capuchin monkey. In time, the animals were moved outdoors and Howletts became a wildlife park.
On John’s death in 2000, Damian took control and set up the Aspinall Foundation, a conservation initiative to return captive-bred animals into the wild. His foundation has now bred more captive animals – and reintroduced them into the wild – than any other organisation in Europe. There have been 139 gorilla births, 33 black rhinos and 20 African elephants. The animals are released into reserves in Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the foundation has approximately a million acres of guarded land.



source: dailymail