NEWS of attempts to bring Uley’s adopted gorilla, John Daniel, back home has reached the New York Post.

John Daniel, who was raised in Uley would be carted around by kids in a wheelbarrow, went to classes, ate roses from gardens, enjoyed cups of tea and drank cider with the locals.

He went on display in the hall of primates at New York's American Museum of Natural History in 1922, where he remains today.

Now registered as exhibit No. 54084, John Daniel is posed siting on a tree stump with a sign that simply reads ‘Gorilla’, merely known as an anonymous scientific specimen.

Stroud District Council leader Cllr Steve Lydon (Lab, The Stanleys) is leading the charge to bring John back to Uley.

He said: “I contacted the American Museum of Natural History in New York and they confirmed that they had him on display.

“I spend a lot of time talking about austerity and cuts so it’s nice to have a bit of fun.

“I went to Uley Parish Council and they said they’d love to have him in the community shop.

“It’s a bit of a laugh, but it would be great if we could at least borrow him or get an up to date picture.

“Anything is possible, and after all it could be a good tourist attraction possibly at the Museum in the Park.

“I’m not sure what the DHL costs would be to ship him over but it would be great if we could bring him back home.”

In a poll on the Gazette website 72 per cent of those who voted agreed that SDC should try to bring John Daniel back to Gloucestershire.

The museum staff are sending instructions on how to formally apply for the possible loan of the gorilla.

Permission is often granted for educational and research institutions and only if they can provide appropriate conditions to maintain and keep the item safe.

John Daniel’s arrival in New York in March 1921 was heavily covered in the US press.

The New York Times stated that he wore a ‘natty sailor suit with gay ribbon trimmings’.

They reported in April of the same year that he appeared homesick in his ‘two-room apartment viewing cage’ in Madison Square Garden.

He died from pneumonia on April 17, eight days before his beloved Uley keeper Alyce Cunningham arrived from the UK to be at his side after receiving word of his declining health.

Stroud artist Hannah Dyson has taken the story of John Daniel as inspiration for a six-painting exhibition at the Prema Arts Centre in Uley which runs from Monday, February 27 till Sunday, April 9.