My, how you've grown: Zoo keeper in tears as he and gorilla are reunited 20 years after he hand-reared him in his bedroom

Reunited: Retired zookeeper Ron Smith gets emotional as he visits Salome, pictured as a baby with Ron, at Bristol Zoo

Visit: Ron Smith pictured next to the gorilla pen at Bristol Zoo, home to Salome for 20 years. Ron had been deputy curator of the ape house at London Zoo when the ape was born

But he still thinks of her as ‘my baby’ and this year, as a Christmas present to himself, the 82-year-old widower travelled 200 miles from his home in Ipswich for a poignant reunion. 

He sobbed as he saw Salome, now a 36-year-old mother of three, emerge from behind a bush with her one-year-old son Kukena clinging to her leg. She stared at Mr Smith for a few seconds before attending to her son.

‘She looks really well,’ said Mr Smith. ‘It’s so nice to see her. I am choked.’ Salome’s story was reported by the Daily Mail in August 1976, when she became the first gorilla born at London Zoo. Her mother, Lomie, struggled from the start to rear her daughter. She was not feeding her properly and became increasingly irritable, with two scars on Salome’s head to prove it.

Now: Mr Smith watched as Salome, pictured at Bristol Zoo this week, played with her own one-year-old son Kukena

Sentimental: Ron hadn't seen the gorilla since she moved to Bristol Zoo in 1992 and became emotional as he watched Salome in her enclosure

So Mr Smith, who was second in command of the Ape House, took Salome back to his flat in Cricklewood every evening for the next year until she grew into a strong and healthy youngster.

He and his wife took turns to wake up in the night and feed her every three hours from a baby’s bottle filled with warm, diluted, evaporated milk. 

John Partridge, senior curator of animals at Bristol, saluted Mr Smith and his wife, who died in 2008, for doing such a good job as foster parents.  

‘Salome is a brilliant mother and that is all down to this guy,’ he said. ‘She has had babies, rears them herself and is a strong member of the family. All that is down to how she was reared.’

Hand-reared: Tiny baby Salome pictured in a cot with a rattle at Ron Smith's house in the 1970s. She used to sleep in the same bedroom as Ron and wife Barbara

Zoo keeper: Ron pictured weighing Salome while working at London Zoo in the 1970s. he would care for the animal at the zoo during the day and take her home at night

Lynsey Bugg, assistant curator of mammals, said: ‘I do not think she necessarily knew who Ron was but there was a definite recognition of familiarity. He’s done such a good job. She’s an amazing animal in terms of teaching other members of the group about mothering. 

‘To see the man who made it all possible is magical. The whole team have loved having Ron here and will continue to keep in touch with him.’

As Mr Smith left dabbing his eyes, he called back to the zoo-keepers: ‘Look after my Sali for me.’

And on the long journey home, he said: ‘This will stay in my memory. I am overwhelmed. It has been a wonderful day – the best. Salome  was a big part of our life. We never had children so she was special.'

Current home: The Gorilla Island enclosure at Bristol Zoo. The zoo is home to seven Western Lowland Gorillas