Goodbye Koko! The Gorilla Who Learned Sign Language, Passed Away
The 46-year-old gorilla died in her sleep peacefully in the Northern California preserve.
Koka stole a thousand hearts, Koko could understand how much one loved her… Koko is no more! ‘Gorilla sign language’ helped the female ape to grasp the human way of communication. In her lifetime she also made a number of celebrity friends, one of them was the legendary Robin Williams.
The Gorilla Foundation released a statement mentioning, “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.”
In making Koko what she became in her life, Penny Patterson’s contribution has been undeniably crucial. After Koko was just born in the year 1971, the duo first met. Francine “Penny” Patterson was a budding psychologist then, and it’s she, who started teaching Koko the language to communicate with the humankind. ‘Gorilla Sign Language’ or GSL, an adapted version of the American Sign Language made Koko the ‘Talking Gorilla’, who later went on to gain global fame.
She was also featured on the cover of National Geographic and made headlines, when she adopted a kitten.
BBC Earth posted a video as a tribute to the Gorilla who could talk to humans, and it will melt your heart, for sure -
Koko the gorilla has sadly died aged 46
— BBC Earth (@BBCEarth) June 21, 2018
Here's the story of her life 🦍💚 pic.twitter.com/GFzfSvydcp
The kitten named All Ball died in a car crash in 1984, and this is how Koko reacted to the incident in sign language, “Cat, cry, have-sorry, Koko-love.”
The Gorilla Foundation shared in its statement that Koko will be always remembered, “as the primary ambassador for her endangered species.”