How I became 'mum' to two baby gorillas

Sleepless nights, endless nappies and formula milk will sound very familiar to most new parents. But what if those newborns are baby gorillas?

- INTERVIEW BY MARGARET HUSSEY

That was the task faced by Alan Toyne, then a zookeeper at Bristol Zoo, who found himself hand-rearing baby Western lowland primates Afia and Hasani. Afia was born prematurely after her mother had an emergency C-section, while Hasani's mother had failed to bond with him.

Alan, 52, and a team of co-workers, stepped in, looking after the babies around the clock, both at work, home and even in bed.

"I remember going to Sainsbury's and buying premature nappies and follow-on milk," says Alan. "I was obviously quite tired and the woman at the checkout said 'I just want to double-check, you know what you are doing?' And I said, 'Yes, it's OK, it's for a gorilla!' She must have thought I had totally lost it!"

WHIRLWIND

It's just one of the factors of looking after a baby primate, which Alan recounts in his fascinating book Gorillas In Our Midst. The idea behind hand-rearing is for them to learn to be baby gorillas naturally, so by the time they are ready about seven to eight months - they can rejoin their groups.

To that end, Alan wore a dark, string vest to replicate fur for them to cling on to. "Even when they are very young they have learned how to hang on to their mums," says Alan. "So it's a key first step in their development."

Firstly came Afia and a whirlwind seven months when she was a huge part of Alan's life - along with partner Sharon and stepchildren Sam, then 20. and Kizz, then 16, at their house in Bristol.

How did the family react about Afia joining them?

"Sharon could see how much it meant to me as I would consistently talk about the animals at home," says Alan. "She was amazing when Afia came back.

"When we first started bringing her home she wore a pink hoodie due to her prematurity, but that only lasted a couple of weeks before she could thermo-regulate herself."