Couple House Gorilla For 18 Years, Live As Hermits For 13

A couple based in France, Pierre and Eliane Thivillon, give up their lives to train an abandoned Gorilla named Digit.

A couple has given up their life to take care of a Gorilla which they adopted after it was abandoned as a baby.

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Digit and Mr Thivillon

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Pierre and Eliane Thivillon based in Lyon France, took the gorilla named Digit, in when she weighed barely four pounds and six ounces.

18 years later, the Thivillon's have been restricted to their home for 13 years since they cannot leave Digit with anyone or take her out with them.

Surprisingly, they couldn't be bothered as they have raised her like the child they never had.

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Mr Thivillon with Digit as a baby

The Thivillon's bottle-fed and house-trained Digit who is now a teenager weighing almost 13 stone.

Back in 2013, Mr Thivillon disclosed the nature of their reclusive lifestyle, revealing that they have not gone out in 13 years.

"We cannot leave Digit overnight with anyone else, which means we haven’t been able to go out for 13 years.

"We haven’t had a holiday, or a night away. We haven’t been to the cinema, the theatre, or out for dinner. It would make Digit sad if we weren’t here, and if she is sad we are, too."

Now, Digit lives in an enclosed space attached to the couples home as they also run a private zoo close to their home which has become a sanctuary for animals rescued from poorly run zoos and circuses.

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Digit and Mr Thivillon

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Their zoo is now home to over a thousand animals including monkeys, gibbons, snow leopards, tigers and lions and eight other gorillas.

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