Villagers are to build a statue of a cider-drinking GORILLA that lived there 100 years ago – and was raised as a human.
The massive ape called John Daniel attended the local school, drank booze in the pub and was a frequent passenger in his owner’s open top car.
The gorilla was also pictured eating roses from gardens, enjoying cups of tea, and hanging out with the local cobbler watching him repair shoes.
John had his own bedroom, was potty trained and knew how to make his bed and do the washing up.
Alyce Cunningham adopted John Daniel after he was captured as a baby in Gabon when his parents were shot by French officers.
He was brought up in the village of Uley in Gloucestershire between 1918 and 1921.
Locals at The Uley Society have now applied for planning permission to memorialise the lowland gorilla.
Uley Society treasurer Dr Rod White said: “We would like to commemorate the centenary of John Daniel’s life in Uley.
”It is one of the more romantic stories of Uley.
“And we hope that highlighting this unique chapter in the village’s history will further enhance the strong sense of community spirit we have here.
“We’d like to position the sculpture on the green, close to the house where John Daniels lived, by the pub where he used to drink cider.
“People sit on the green on summer evenings and hopefully it will add to the ambience there.”
Alyce would take beloved John to her London home in Sloane Street, where he would attend glitzy VIP dinner parties.
But after three years he grew from a manageable 32lb infant to a colossal 210lb gorilla, and Miss Cunningham couldn’t look after him anymore.
Sadly, the tale ended in tragedy after Alyce was tricked into selling him to a circus.
John was moved to America and died a year later aged four and a half years old.
Uley Society archivist Margaret Groom unearthed a collection of photographs of John, which were published in her book.
John was stuffed and put on display in the New York museum in 1922, where he remains today.
His full history can be read in Margaret Groom’s book ‘Notes from the Uley Archives’.
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