‘A life among the trees’: Bristol zoo’s gorillas move out of town

Five miles from their former city zoo, seven gorillas are exploring their new ‘African forest’ home

It has been an eventful few months for Bristol’s gorillas. The troop made headlines around the world when an urban explorer snapped pictures of them looking downbeat in their old, almost deserted home near the city centre. Then they were moved – under armed police escort – to a new out-of-town base and promptly suffered a shock bereavement.

On Monday, in warm spring sunshine, the western lowland gorillas were to be found exploring a new woodland habitat at Bristol Zoo Project, five miles from their former city home. They clambered up the horse chestnut tree, as tall as a three-storey building, sampled the green shoots of a hawthorn and scanned the floor for treats.