Evening Magazine - Gorilla Estate

A KPIX-TV Evening Magazine segment from 1985 featuring a visit by Jan Yanehiro to Howletts Zoo near the city of Canterbury in England. Owned by gambling club host John Aspinall (1926-2000), Howletts is home to many endangered wild animals. There is an interview with Aspinall who talks about his realtionship with these animals and views of him playing around with a lowland gorilla and a tigress. This report balances Aspinall's obvious affection for the animals by reminding us of the inherent danger of working with wild animals. And Yanehiro goes on to describe how a tigress called Zeya was shot after killing zoo keepers Brian Stocks and Bob Wilson at Howletts. Both men were mauled to death within weeks of each other in 1980. Opening graphic designed by Carrie Hawks.

Note: although this segment is preserved on a BetaSP videotape, it was probably dubbed from a 3/4-inch umatic tape source.