Goodbye Koko, the signing gorilla
Koko the female western lowland gorilla, who was taught how to communicate using sign language, has died peacefully in her sleep. She was 46 years old.
Born in 1971 at San Francisco Zoo, in the US, Koko was originally called Hanabi-ko, which means “fireworks child” in Japanese. Animal psychologist Francine “Penny” Patterson began working with her in 1972 and taught Koko a version of American Sign Language. Koko moved to the Gorilla Foundation in Redwood City, California, in 1974 and spent the rest of her life there. Gorillas use gestures to communicate with each other in the wild, but Patterson taught Koko how to express herself and “talk” to humans. She claimed that Koko was able to understand around 2,000 words of spoken English and respond using more than 1,000 hand signs.
The gentle giant also loved other animals, especially cats. During her lifetime, Koko adopted many kittens. She called her first pet kitten All Ball.
Koko starred in a number of TV documentaries and, in 1978, a selfie she had taken made the cover of National Geographic magazine. She also met many human celebrities, including actors
Leonardo DiCaprio and Robin Williams. She even gave the famous primatologist Jane Goodall tips on how best to study gorillas – according to Koko, the lower you can get the better. A primatologist is someone who studies non-human primates such as monkeys, apes and lemurs.
“Koko touched the lives of millions as an ambassador for all gorillas and an icon for interspecies communication and empathy. She was beloved and will be deeply missed,” the Gorilla Foundation said following her death.