An animal conservationist who owns two reserves in Kent has posted online about an adorable moment he shared with a gorilla.

Damian Aspinall, who runs Howletts Wild Animal Park near Canterbury and Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve near Hythe, posted a video on Instagram of him with one of the animals.

In the clip, he is crouching in front of the primate inside her enclosure at Howletts, strokes her and appears to be speaking to her.

The animal reserve boss is wearing a hat which the animal quickly spots and moves her hand towards.

It is then not long before she takes the cap off Damian’s head and puts it on her own – facing backwards.

After putting it on, she pulls Damian closer to her and the pair hug.

Captions in the video say: “She sees me wearing my hat…

“Then… She puts on my hat!!

“And she looks better than me.”

So far, the video has received more than 6,000 likes and 320 comments.

Damian’s daughter, Freya was also with him at the reserve yesterday and in another video, she is seen sitting with a gorilla who is having a snack. This post has so far received 10,600 likes and 118 comments.

He captions the post: “Me and my daughter Freya visiting our extended family at Howletts.

“There’s no training involved in these interactions, just complete trust between humans and gorillas. It’s too late to rewind, but together we can rewild.”

In an exclusive interview with KentOnline last year, Mr Aspinall told of how he would happily see Howletts and Port Lympne shut, or turned into rescue centres if it meant their animals living wild.

He established Howletts as a private animal park in 1957 before opening it to the public in 1975. The following year Port Lympne welcomed its first visitors.

Port Lympne has become a celeb hotspot with stars including Gemma Collins and Amanda Holden being two of many to have visited.

Earlier this month, Port Lympne opened Bear Lodge Restaurant to the public in the latest addition to its hospitality.

The restaurant is open to everyone meaning no park ticket is needed to dine there.