She Watched Herself Being 'Eaten Alive' By Chimp And Now Works As 'Gorilla Whisperer'

A woman who had her thumb bitten off by a chimpanzee in a wild attack amazingly went on to live and "learn to speak" with gorillas.

In 1994, a researcher and biologist named Angelique Todd was working at Port Lympne Zoo Park, near Kent, in the UK. 

In a documentary, she explained she had been volunteering at the zoo for three years. 

During this time, she developed "quite a good relationship" with a 33-year-old chimpanzee named Bustah.

"Male chimpanzees in captivity in general, you have to be careful with them, they are one of the most dangerous animals in the zoo," she told Our World in 2004. 

"They can be very aggressive, very feisty so you always are cautious."

Angelique Todd has dedicated her life to studying primates. YouTube / Our World

Even though she got along well with Bustah, he was in a "dangerous" mood on the day he attacked Todd. 

It's said that while the zookeeper was feeding Bustah through the bars of his cage, he suddenly reached through the gap and grabbed her sleeve.

"He saw his opportunity and he took it," Todd recounted. 

"These kind of events, you go in slow motion, you're in shock, you're trying to survive." 

Bustah managed to find the sleeve of her coat and tried to pull her through the bars.

Todd couldn't fight against the strong chimp.

She said she was just "watching herself being eaten alive." 

The 'Gorilla Whisperer' has not allowed her injuries to impend upon her studies. YouTube / Our World

The chimp bit off her thumb and index finger and cut her arteries, making her lose a "huge amount" of muscle mass.

"Almost all of it in fact," she said.

"And I still have tooth wounds on either side of my arm - but this is much, much improved."

Despite her injuries, Todd said the incident didn't make her dislike Bustah. 

She said, "I think what he wanted to do was just get hold of me. 

"I think initially, it was just 'I can get hold of her, I can see a hole, there's a way that I can grab her' and that's what his initial reaction was. 

"After he bit my thumb off, obviously the blood started spurting out, then it became kind of like a feeding frenzy."

Todd claimed she felt no ill-will towards the chimp that attacked her. YouTube / Our World

Todd kept working at the zoo after the attack and even met with Bustah regularly for "counselling reasons." 

But she noticed that Bustah couldn't look at her face after the incident. 

"He just had his head on the ground all the time and whether one interprets that as remorse or that he knows that he did a bad thing, I don't know," Todd said.

Years later, Todd left the zoo but continued to work with animals.  

She studied to become a biologist and moved from Kent to the African jungle to work for the World Wide Fund For Nature.

She spent the next ten years living and "learning to speak" the language of gorillas.  

People started calling her "The Gorilla Whisperer" because she got so close to the wild animals.

BBC / Angelique Todd

Her work was featured in the nature documentary, My Gorilla Family.

The documentary, hosted by Colin Salmon, was released by National Geographic in 2012. 

It followed the life of a majestic silverback gorilla named Makumba. 

"There are definitely tough times, but to gain the confidence of a gorilla family in the wild is a real honor," she told The Telegraph at the time.

A summary for My Gorilla Family reads: "Angelique's persistence has been worth it and has seen her earn Makumba's trust, allowing her to get close to this 200kg great ape, his harem of three females and his eight offspring. 

"But there could be trouble brewing for these mighty primates - at the age of 32, mighty Makumba is growing old. 

"Can this weary warrior see off challengers to his reign, and keep the rivalries within his harem in check?