As Sir David Attenborough celebrates his 100th birthday, one extraordinary moment from his legendary broadcasting career is once again capturing hearts around the world — his unforgettable encounter with a family of wild mountain gorillas deep in the forests of Rwanda.
The iconic sequence, filmed for the groundbreaking 1979 series Life on Earth, has long been considered one of the most powerful moments in television history.
In the footage, a young gorilla named Pablo climbs over Attenborough as another playful infant, Poppy, tugs at his shoelaces, while an adult female gently turns his face toward hers.
Narrating the scene, Attenborough famously says: “There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than any other animal I know.”
Now, for milestone birthday on 8 May, two new documentaries are revisiting both the remarkable filming experience and the lasting legacy of the gorilla family that changed Attenborough’s life forever.
The BBC special Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure takes viewers back to January 1978, when Attenborough and his crew first arrived in the Virunga Mountains hoping simply to film a gorilla’s hand to explain the evolution of thumbs and tool use.
At the time, mountain gorillas were perilously close to extinction, with fewer than 285 believed to remain in the Virunga region due to poaching and illegal animal trafficking.
The crew’s only chance of approaching the animals relied on the help of renowned primatologist Dian Fossey, whose groundbreaking work studying gorillas in Rwanda had already made her internationally famous.
Attenborough admitted he initially doubted Fossey would allow a television crew anywhere near the animals.
But after receiving permission, Fossey personally taught the crew how to behave around the gorillas — including avoiding direct eye contact and making low belching sounds to appear non-threatening.
“We couldn’t have got anywhere near them without Dian,” Attenborough recalled.
What followed became television history.
Rather than capturing a simple scientific demonstration, the crew suddenly found themselves immersed inside a gorilla family as curious young gorillas climbed over Attenborough and treated him like one of their own.
One adult female even placed a finger inside his mouth before belching at him — prompting Attenborough to attempt a response.
“It was one of the most privileged moments of my life,” he later said.
“I dream about it. It was the most breathtaking experience that anybody could possibly want who’s interested in the natural world.”
Remarkably, only a minute or two of footage survived because the crew initially worried they were wasting precious film stock on unscripted horseplay rather than the serious science documentary they had planned.
The sequence ultimately became the emotional centrepiece of Life on Earth, which went on to become one of the most influential nature documentaries ever made, reaching an estimated 500 million viewers worldwide.
The programme fundamentally changed public perceptions of gorillas, presenting them not as terrifying jungle creatures but as intelligent, emotional beings with rich social lives.
Attenborough’s encounter also directly contributed to conservation efforts.
Following the series, conservation charity Fauna & Flora established the Mountain Gorilla Project, helping support protections for the endangered species.
Today, the mountain gorilla population in the region has climbed to around 600 — one of conservation’s rare success stories.
Meanwhile, a second documentary, Netflix’s A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough, follows the descendants of Pablo, the playful young gorilla seen climbing over Attenborough in the original footage.
Attenborough said he never imagined the tiny gorilla would go on to become the dominant silverback leader of his family group.
“I had no idea at the time what an incredible life Pablo would lead or the legacy he would leave,” he said.
According to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, Pablo later became one of the most powerful silverbacks in the region before dying aged 33 while protecting his family.
The new documentary captures the continuing drama within Pablo’s descendants, including rivalries between adult males, fights for dominance and moments of grief and mourning — behaviours strikingly similar to human family dynamics.
For many viewers, the original 1978 footage still resonates because it shattered the perceived divide between humans and the natural world.
As Attenborough reflected in the original broadcast: “We see the world in the same way as they do.”
A century into his extraordinary life, it remains one of the clearest examples of Sir David Attenborough’s unique gift — making audiences not just observe nature, but emotionally connect with it.
