By Anupum Pant
Koko is a female western lowland gorilla who is named after the day on which she was born – 4th of July 1972. Koko is short for Koko Hanabiko which literally means “fireworks child” in Japanese – a reference to the American independence day. She is known for having learned about 1000 different hand signs from a modified form of American Sign Language (ASL). She even has a website. [Koko.org]
Francine Patterson, her trainer has been teaching Koko with english since a very young age and now it is thought that Koko understands spoken english quite well (about 2000 english words).
Koko once made good friends with Robin Williams, they shared wonderful moments and laughed together.
Koko often gets visited by kittens and she loves them.
Koko knows how to have a fine breakfast, eating veggies with a spoon. And she likes them.
Koko has favourite movies, loves watching them and she responds to the sad moments.
Koko can even have conversations…