A Burning Desire
Damian explained, “You have to understand that when he died, there was no money in the bank and these parks were losing £4m a year. Now we have to find £10m a year. I can see why the other family members didn’t want to be involved. My brother and sister had no interest in animals, but I was compelled to do it.” His desire to work with animals propelled him to take over his father’s company.
A Burning Desire
Raising Gorillas
As he was growing up, Damian helped raise several baby gorillas. He formed a bond with them and treated them like they were his very own children. Two of these were male gorillas named Ima and Djalta respectively. “Both of the gorillas were planned to be moved back into the wild in a protected habitat,” he explained during an interview. He was a firm believer that saving these gorillas would provide them with the right to happiness, something animals deserved just as much as humans did. For Damian, this was the way to find coexistence. However, there were other things in store for him.
Raising Gorillas