Damian Aspinall, an environmentalist, established the Aspinall Foundation to work toward the release of

imprisoned gorillas into the wild. Over the years, they have helped hundreds of apes, but one couple sticks out among the rest.

After 15 years of raising two Western lowland gorillas in Kent, England, Damian released Djalta and Bimms into the forests of Gabon, West Africa.

Since the monkeys were freed, Damian has seen them multiple times; however, Tansy, who grew up with them, hasn’t seen them in around 12 years.

We occasionally went inside the cages with other gorillas, and my sister Clary and I frequently played on

the lawn with Djalta and Bims.Tansy continued, ‘I loved being around them all, but those two guys were like our family to us.’

When she was ten years old, she recalled, ‘I last saw them as they were being crated up for the trip to the conservation site in Gabon.’

The animal expert asked his daughter to travel with him on a visit two years ago, and she agreed.

In the hopes that Tansy might be recognized by the now-wild gorillas, the father-daughter combo journeyed to the West African nation’s jungles.

I was first hesitant when we went out to find them because I wasn’t sure if they would recognize

me after all that time or if they had grown hardened by life and may be violent, Tansy added.

They spent hours on a boat waiting for Djalta and Bimms to return from the jungle, and then something extraordinary occurred.