When Attenborough met the gorillas - the story behind his iconic TV moment

When Attenborough met the gorillas - the story behind his iconic TV moment9 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleDavid SillitoArts and Media CorrespondentAttenborough's gorilla encounter"There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than any other animal I know."It is the most memorable moment of his broadcasting career - the footage of Sir David Attenborough lying among a group of playful mountain gorillas in a Rwandan forest clearing.The images for his landmark 1979 Life on Earth series were not just unexpected, they said something profound about our close relationship with the natural world.As Sir David approaches his 100th birthday on 8 May, he has taken part in two documentaries that look back at that unforgettable encounter and the dramatic story of what became of that gorilla family.Approaching the gorillas The Making of Life on Earth returns to 9 January 1978, the day Attenborough and the team arrived in the Virunga Mountains.They intended to show something very simple - a gorilla's thumb. Attenborough wanted to explain how the development of thumbs and fingers allowed apes to grip tools.It was with that hope that the team climbed 9,843 ft (3,000m) up the 45-degree slopes in order to catch a glimpse of one of the few surviving mountain gorillas.The crew had concerns. Poaching and capturing animals for trophies and zoo exhibits had taken mountain gorillas to the verge of extinction. The population in the Virungas had dropped below 285. They were also difficult to approach.Their best option was to win the confidence of the one person studying them in the wild - the US gorilla expert, Dian Fossey, who had founded the Karisoke Research centre in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park in the Virungas.Her work became famous in 1970 when she appeared on the cover of National Geographic but Attenborough doubted she would allow a film crew anywhere near her gorillas.Bob Campbell / Smathers Libraries /...