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A baby mountain gorilla as seen in \u201cA Gorilla Story.\u201d\u00a0(Photo: Courtesy of Silverback Films and Netflix )<\/p>\nPublished April 22, 2026 04:00PM<\/p>\n
Ahead of Sir David Attenborough\u2019s 100th birthday in a few weeks, one of his most defining moments in the wild is the subject of a new Netflix film, A Gorilla Story. The legendary broadcaster inspired generations by bringing the natural world into our homes, but one unexpected encounter with a baby gorilla nearly 50 years ago created an especially lasting legacy. Not only did it make a profound impact on the eminent environmentalist, but the iconic footage helped shift the perceptions of mountain gorillas at the brink of extinction, and bring more resources to their conservation.<\/p>\n
A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough, directed by Oscar-winner James Reed (My Octopus Teacher) and produced by Silverback Films, features never-before-seen footage and archival scenes from Attenborough\u2019s unscripted encounters in 1978 with Rwanda\u2019s endangered mountain gorillas.<\/p>\n
The Netflix doc takes us back to Attenborough\u2019s days as a younger awe-struck naturalist filming his breakthrough TV series, Life on Earth (1978) in the Virunga Mountains in East Africa. During filming, he has a surprise meeting with a family of gorillas, and an exceptionally close one with a baby gorilla named Pablo. Revisiting this important moment in his career, A Gorilla Story follows the evolution of Pablo\u2019s family (or the \u201cPablo group\u201d) over five decades, featuring the British naturalist\u2019s signature gripping narration and poignant memories, no less dimmed over the years.<\/p>\n
In January 1978 in Rwanda\u2019s Volcanoes National Park, Attenborough and his film crew weren\u2019t expecting to capture a meeting of the gorillas directly. After they found a family of gorillas in a clearing, he announced his presence with a few low grunts, as the American primatologist Dian Fossey always did. The gorillas let Attenborough approach, and what happened next was even more astonishing. \u201cI felt a weight on my feet, and I look down and there\u2019s little Pablo,\u201d recalls Attenborough in A Gorilla Story. \u201cLook at this lovely little creature \u2026 just sheer bliss really.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people would think it was the most important sequence in that [Life on Earth] series. If not, actually, in my filmed life,\u201d Attenborough says in the new Netflix doc.<\/p>\n
In the archival footage, immediately following his unexpected moment with Pablo, he says directly to camera: \u201cThere is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than any other animal I know.\u201d The naturalist had no idea at the time what an impact this moment with little Pablo would leave behind.<\/p>\n
Now almost 50 years later, things are looking up for the Pablo group as they are for the entire endangered species as a whole. Today there are over 600 mountain gorillas across the Virunga Mountains. Their population has more than doubled since Attenborough filmed there five decades ago.<\/p>\n
A baby mountain gorilla as seen in \u201cA Gorilla Story.\u201d\u00a0(Photo: Courtesy of Silverback Films and Netflix )<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time I met mountain gorillas in 1978, they allowed me to approach, which of course would not have been possible without the pioneering work of Dian Fossey,\u201d Attenborough credits the conservationist hero in A Gorilla Story. Fossey lived among the gorillas, studying the intimate details of their lives, and helped save the mountain gorilla from extinction by pioneering active conservation and transforming their perception from aggressive monsters to gentle beings. Fossey\u2019s work halted the population decline and shifted focus to anti-poaching, establishing a lasting legacy of scientific research and habitat protection. Today her work is being carried over by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Lasting Legacy of Attenborough\u2019s Gorillas Encounter<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Sir David filmed in the late 1970s, the Virunga mountain gorilla population had fallen to somewhere around 300 individuals from an estimated 450 just a few decades earlier and reached a low of around 250 individuals by the early 1980s,\u201d Dr. Tara Stoinski, president, CEO, and chief scientific officer of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, tells Outside.<\/p>\n Stoinski and her team have been part of A Gorilla Story since the start and suggested\u00a0to the filmmakers that they focus on the story of Pablo\u2019s family.<\/p>\n \u201cWe supported the film as both scientific advisors, providing the context and detail on the individual animals that enabled such rich characters to come to life on the screen,\u201d says the primatologist. They also accompanied the film crew when they were with the gorilla group, helping them identify individuals and anticipate behaviors.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat has happened since [Attenborough\u2019s 1978 encounter] is one of conservation\u2019s most remarkable stories,\u201d says Stoinski. Not only has the mountain gorilla population in this region more than doubled to 600 individuals, but they are the only great ape subspecies whose numbers are actually increasing, she reports.<\/p>\n And what happened to baby Pablo? He went on to form his own group in 1993. \u201cToday, more than 32 years after its creation, we continue to study and protect this family, making it one of the longest-studied gorilla groups in history,\u201d adds Stoinski.<\/p>\n Attenborough filmed in Rwanda shortly after the 1977 tragic killing of Digit, one of Fossey\u2019s favorite gorillas. During this time, gorillas were being significantly affected by direct poaching, something that fortunately no longer happens. \u201cThe awareness that Dian had already raised about how much the gorillas are like us and the threats they faced were further reinforced by the iconic footage of David interacting with Pablo. [It] helped further spread the word and bring more resources to conservation,\u201d Stoinski tells Outside.<\/p>\n How Tourism Has Impacted the Conservation of Gorillas<\/p>\n Alongside daily protection, tourism has also played an important role in supporting gorilla conservation in Rwanda, says Stoinski. It generates significant funding, which strengthens protection efforts and benefits local communities.<\/p>\n \u201cRevenue from tourism is used for park protection and gorilla monitoring and also supports community development, helping to support infrastructure, education, and healthcare to areas surrounding the park, thus reducing reliance on forest resources,\u201d the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund CEO tells Outside.<\/p>\n Praveen Moman, the founder of Volcanoes Safaris,<\/a> revived gorilla tourism in post-genocide Rwanda and pioneered a community-based tourism model. In 1997, he started Volcanoes Safaris\u2019 gorilla and chimpanzee trekking in Uganda and Rwanda, inspired to help rebuild tourism after years of conflict. At the time, it was considered unthinkable to invite international travelers to Rwanda and Uganda to see the dwindling gorilla population. But bringing tourism back aided in the recovery of the mountain gorilla population.<\/p>\n In fact, Moman has often said there wouldn\u2019t be any gorillas today without tourism and its positive economic impacts to the local communities. To visit the gorillas in Rwanda today, travelers must purchase a trekking permit<\/a>, which costs $1,500 USD per person (in Uganda, it\u2019s $800). Three-fourths of the fee supports gorilla conservation, 15 percent goes to the government, and 10 percent goes directly to the communities that live near Rwanda\u2019s four national parks where the gorillas roam free.<\/p>\n![\"Mountain](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ben-Cherry-Gorilla-Selection-228.jpg\"\/)
Today the population of mountain gorillas across the Virunga Mountains. Their population has more than doubled since Attenborough filmed there five decades ago. (Photo: Ben Cherry \/ Courtesy of Silverback Films and Netflix)<\/p>\n![\"Silverback](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AmyThompson_EV1A4774_Girucasi2.jpg\"\/)
A silverback mountain gorilla in Rwanda (Photo: Courtesy of Silverback Films and Netflix )<\/p>\n
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\u00a0Ahead of Sir David Attenborough\u2019s 100th birthday in a few weeks, one of his most defining moments in the wild is the subject of a new Netflix film, A Gorilla Story. \u00a0 (Photo: Courtesy of Silverback Films and Netflix )<\/p>\n