Alan Toyne does not have the words "Mother of Gorillas" on his business card, but he probably should. He is an Anthropology graduate with a specialism in primate politics and has a fascination with the similarities that exist between human beings and our ape and monkey cousins. He travelled extensively in search of wild primates and became a zookeeper at Bristol Zoo in 2008.

Working with the troop of Western Lowland Gorillas at Bristol Zoo for fourteen years, he built close working relationships with the animals and went on to hand-rear and successfully reintroduce two baby Western Lowland Gorillas.