Jenny Duncan and her young son Tommy are flying over the African jungle en route to meet Jenny's sister Carol when their plane develops engine trouble and they are forced to parachute to safety. Mother and son are separated when they land, and Jenny, suspended from a tree, frantically calls to Tommy while man-eating lions circle below. Just as Jenny's parachute cord breaks, plummeting her to the ground, the sound of the plane exploding scares the lions, sending them scurrying for cover. Little Tommy, meanwhile, is found by Zamba, a maternal gorilla. Nearby, hunter Steve O'Malley, who is on an expedition to capture some big cats, meets a native boy, who tells him about seeing two parachutes fall from a plane. As Steve approaches the spot on which the parachutes landed, he hears Jenny's screams and watches as a leopard springs at her. After Steve shoots the leopard, Jenny collapses, and Steve and his faithful native servant Keega take her to their compound at Yamputo. At her office in an African city, Carol is notified of her sister's plight and immediately flies to Yamputo with her sweetheart Marvin. After Carol parachutes into the compound, her spunkiness begins to irritate Steve. Days later, one of the natives tells of finding Tommy's parachute and a gorilla's footprint beside it. Tommy, meanwhile, has suffered amnesia and cavorts in the jungle with his new guardian, Zamba. When the boy fondles a pair of lion cubs, the angry mother attacks, but Zamba snatches the boy from the lion's jaws. Steve has been tracking Tommy, and when the terrified boy runs into his camp, he tries to reassure him. Fearful of Steve, Tommy calls to Zamba, who angrily invades the camp and frees the boy. Taking refuge in the jungle once more, Tommy climbs through the brush to a riverbank, where he sees Carol and Jenny. Jenny's presence begins to trigger the boy's memory, but when the women see him, he becomes frightened and runs away. Carol and Jenny chase Tommy onto a rock, and when he loses his balance, he falls and strikes his head, causing his memory to return. In search of Tommy, Zamba appears and grabs Jenny. Tommy strikes Zamba with a stick and orders the dejected gorilla to leave. Tommy then embraces Jenny and Carol as Steve arrives to congratulate them.