Koko (Gorilla)
Koko (born July 4, 1971 in San Francisco , California - † June 19, 2018 in Woodside , California) was a female western lowland gorilla who became known for her command of a modified sign language .
Life
Koko was born in the San Francisco Zoo . At the age of six months she became seriously ill and was a. supervised by the psychologist Francine Patterson . 1974 Koko was loaned to Stanford University for research purposes. Since 1979 she was together with other gorillas in the Gorilla Foundation, founded in 1976 in Woodside, California, where she died on June 19, 2018 at the age of 46.
Koko gained international attention after Francine Patterson and other Stanford University scholars taught her to communicate with people using a modified form of American sign language . Koko reportedly mastered over a thousand signs of sign language and understood nearly two thousand spoken English words. She was also the only known gorilla to pass the mirror test . When asked: "Where do the animals go when they die?", Koko replied with three signs: "Cozy - cave - goodbye". Patterson did not share her data with other scientists.
Koko had no offspring. She spent most of her life in Woodside.
Surname
Koko is short for Japanese Hanabi-Ko (花火 子), which translates as " fireworks child " and refers to her birthday, the United States' Independence Day on July 4th.
Movie
- Koko was the inspiration for the "talking" great ape Amy from Michael Crichton's novel Congo .
- In an episode of the US series Seven Days , a great ape named Kiki receives a suitcase and activates all of the United States' nuclear weapons by entering the code.
- Koko, le gorille qui parle , French documentary (1978) by Barbet Schroeder .
Web links
- koko.org. Gorilla Foundation website on Koko. (English).
- Jane C. Hu: What Do Talking Apes Really Tell Us? The Strange, Disturbing World of Koko the Gorilla and Kanzi the Bonobo. In: Slate . August 20, 2014 (English).
- Roc Morin: A Conversation With Koko the Gorilla. In: The Atlantic . August 28, 2015 (English).
- Famous gorilla dies: "Koko touched the lives of millions of people". In: Spiegel Online . June 22, 2018.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Andrea Morabito: The sad twilight of Koko the gorilla and her 'mother'. In: New York Post . July 28, 2016, accessed June 21, 2018 .
- ^ Scientific Goals. The Gorilla Foundation, accessed June 21, 2018 .
- ^ The Gorilla Foundation is sad to announce the passing of our beloved Koko. The Gorilla Foundation, June 20, 2018, accessed June 21, 2018 .