It was a story that gripped an entire nation. Five-year-old Levan Merritt was knocked unconscious when he fell into a gorilla enclosure and was protected by a giant male silverback gorilla named Jambo.
Now, 30 years after the story made headlines around the world, Levan Merritt explains of the event and why he wanted to bring his children to see the place that shaped his life forever.
It was August 30, 1986, a date that would impact Levans life in so many ways- from establishing a life-long relationship with Jersey Zoo, to handling bullies at school who teased him with name calling, to explaining the dramatic story to his wife-to-be, Amanda.
As their trip to Jersey zoo began, the children were encaptivated by the spider monkeys and Levan remembered 'finding it funny as one of
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them peed on my Dad.' After seeing the monkeys, their curiosity quickly shifted to the gorilla pit. As Levan's father lifted a younger sibling on his shoulders to get a better look at the Gorillas, Levan decided to climb up the wall to see for himself. In the moment that followed, Levan slipped and fell 20 feet into the pit, breaking his arm and fracturing his skull in the process. As he lay motionless on the bottom of the enclosure, a 7ft tall 250-pound male silverback called Jambo, slowly moved towards him. Zoo patrons watched in horror as Jambo reached out towards Levan. Jambo began to gently stroke Levan's back. Jambo stood guard over Levan when he was unconscious, placing himself between the boy and the other apes in a protective manner.
As Levan began to regain consciousness and started to cry, his family screamed at him to remain still. Jambo led the other gorillas into the indoor enclosure.
Right when the gate was closing, a younger gorilla called Hobbit rushed out, and in the chaos a paramedic and two zoo keepers dropped in and rescued Levan in a dramatic escape.
Levan's family had visited the zoo to celebrate the birthday of his youngest sibling, Lloyd, who was turning 4.
Little did he know his trip to the zoo, on the first day of their vacation, would be worldwide news, and catapult Jambo to international stardom.
Levan was quickly airlifted to Southampton General Hospital.
The footage of the incident was captured by a zoo visitor on a hand-cam.
The next day, when Levan was lying on his hospital bed, the family watched back the astonishing footage.
Recalling the first time he saw the astonishing footage, he told reporters: 'The first I saw of the video was in the hospital and I remember being incredibly surprised and quite shocked. I obviously couldn't believe what had
happened.' Levan spent six weeks in the hospital, nursing a fractured skull and broken arm. Following his recovery, Levan has maintained a relationship with the zoo. He has returned on more than 10 occasions. Levan said he was 'proud' to have helped change public perceptions of gorillas from dangerous beasts to gentle giants. He was bullied at school after the incident and given cruel names such as 'Tarzan' and 'gorilla boy'. 'It was a difficult time but I just tried to shrug it off.' Said Levan Levan is now 35 and is still an animal lover. He is pleased both of his children have followed in his footsteps. Levan added: 'She was first told by my friends a few months after we got together and she didn't believe them and thought they were winding her up until I told her. She was shocked and thought it was incredible. 'Shortly after, we were round her house and it was on TV and she thought I was a TV celebrity which was quite amusing.' Levan's family recalls the events at gatherings and remember the heroic gorillas actions that exciting day. Jambo died in 1992 and had his own bronze statue erected in his honor.The statue can be seen on the grounds of the former Jersey Zoo.
shocked by the randomness and brutality of the act, in much the same way it was
As the incident wasn’t over, there were many photographers taken photos; however, there was only one photo that was sad when everyone first saw the photo. The photo was taken by the Brown Brothers, and was remembered in the past and even today (Todd 11). They were sad that there were dead bodies on the ground. There were policemen and other people standing near the bodies of victims on the Green Street sidewalk in the photo. Most of the victims were w...
her. His mother and father rushed in and realized what had happened. This family was
The documentary, Lost Sparrow, is a very compelling production of one man’s quest to not only help his family deal with some of the trauma’s they had long been suffering from, it was also created to tell the story and hopefully shed some light on the conflicting story of the disappearance and death of his Native American adoptive brothers, Bobby and Tyler. Initially my overall takeaway from this documentary was a mixture of curiosity which quickly turned into confusion. “How did the boys (Bobby and Tyler) end up on the tracks?” and “Why were they running away in the first place?” were two questions that confused, lead me to be curious, and slightly suspicious very early in the viewing. Upon initial completion of the documentary my sole thought
...s such as mom’s Indian jewelry set, the valuable ring, and the large reservation in Texas for oil drilling that was worth one million dollars. The children were led into danger and poverty due to Mom’s and Dad’s poor decision making and execution.
The gorilla, named Ishmael, can communicate telepathically. Communicating with him in this fashion, the narrator learns Ishmael’s background - in which the gorilla was stolen from the wild and displayed in a menagerie, then rescued by a Holocaust survivor who taught him his name and how to learn. Impressed, the narrator decides to accept his teachings, returning to Ishmael's office throughout the story.
The 1960’s was a time of war, politics, and a trip to the moon. For some it was a turbulent time filled with chaos, while for others it was a peaceful, prosperous time. For my grandfather, Robert Mammini, it was the decade of his life where he would settle down, start a family, and experience a most memorable decade. He was married in 1961 at the age of 24 to my grandma, Mary Mammini. During this decade his family expanded and he had three children. His first born Kim, my mom was born in 1962, followed by my uncle in 1964 and later my aunt in 1966. He and my grandmother lived in Concord, California just several blocks from Clayton Valley High School. It’s weird to think they lived two minutes from where I live now. With my grandma’s hands full with three kids it was up to my grandpa to be the working man. He worked at James Nelson Company, a booming heating and air conditioning company, in San Francisco where he made good wages and was given great benefits. With the good pay my grandfather was able to easily afford a brand new home priced at $22,000, which included 3 beds and 2 baths. This decade was the start of a long ride for the Mammini family filled with incredible world events that we will never experience again.
For the purpose of this paper I visited the Los Angeles Zoo, on October 23, 2015. Luckily I was able to visit all of the animals in the short amount of time I had. I primarily stayed at the Gorilla and Chimp exhibit to understand their behaviors and how they act like us.
It began on Thanksgiving day, in November, 1999, when two fisherman pulled the body of a five year old cuban boy out of the waters off the coast of Florida. The boy was Elian Gonzalez. He was one of three survivors of a group of Cuban refugees seeking political asylum and freedom from communist Cuba under Fidel Castro's rule. Elian's mother, Elisabeth Brotons, along with her common-law husband and nine others, drowned when the boat carrying them to the United States capsized and sank. Elisabeth Broton's husband, Lazaro Munero, was apparently trying to smuggle his family and the others into the United States, charging the others one-thousand dollars for the trip. When the boat took on water, two large truck innertubes were used as flotation devices in an attempt to remain alive. After more than a day adrift at sea, Elian was found alone clinging to one of the innertubes off shore near Fort Lauderdale. He was dehydrated, sun-stricken, and emotionally scarred from watching those around him perish in the vast ocean; but he was alive.
... the gorillas are taken away from their family and are living in captivity. It is still important to study primates in-depth, and a solution to the ethical issues may be to breed primates within the conservatory.
One of the best vacation spots and most fun are down the shore in Wildwood, New Jersey. Wildwood consists of a boardwalk with tons of rides and fun, a beach with a beautiful ocean, and little summerhouses with ocean-side views. The best attractions though would probably be located on the boardwalk. There are so many things to see and do. Although it’s rather costly, it’s well worth it and it’s a great place for a family to share quality time together.
Several years ago I viewed the video of Jane Elliot’s experiment with her third graders and I was
Anthony Marshall, discussed obstacles faced when attempting to teach students of the painful event in the city’s past, without use of textbooks as a reference. Dr. Marshall challenged the lack of curriculum and worked to change the curriculum to include discussing the horrific massacre.
On Christmas Eve, December 24th, 1945, a fire destroyed the Sodder family home in Fayetteville, West Virginia. At this time, five out of ten of the Sodder children went missing. Some believe the children died in the fire, but some agree they were kidnapped. There was no trace of them. Investigations have found clues to prove this theory. Without a doubt, the Sodder children were kidnapped.
Towards the end of 1989, my family and I were on vacation in Fort Myers, Florida. We drove from Trenton, New Jersey all the way to Florida where my grandfather lived. It was a long trip to undergo, especially being six years old and knowing that my father never stopped the car. By the time we arrived at Fort Myers, it was a beautiful sunny day. The wind was gusting enough to pull my hair back, and I was admiring the palm trees, coconuts, and lizards near the Gulf of Mexico. The first few days were nice, but little did I know that I would soon be caught in the middle of a twister.