Koko Is A Special Gorilla Essay

Koko is a very special gorilla. She can really communicate with humans using her hands. She was the very first gorilla to learn and understand American Sign Language.

Koko was born in a San Francisco zoo, but soon after she was born, she became very ill and had to be cared for in the zoo’s nursery. That’s when Penny Patterson

Penny believed that if gorillas could learn sign language, they could communicate with humans. So, when Koko was just a year old, Penny began teaching her American Sign Language. Koko’s first words were ‘drink’, ‘eat’ and ‘more’. By the time Koko was five years old, she could sign over 200 words. Now, Koko is forty fours years old, and she uses more than 1000 words. She can even be silly and make jokes!

Gorilla’s have always had their own body language. They beat their chests and use sounds and simple gestures to communicate in the wild. Maybe that is why Koko could learn sign language so easily.

Today, Koko lives in California, in a peaceful sanctuary with a male gorilla called Ndume and her human caregivers Penny Patterson and Ron Cohn. Koko loves to play, watch movies. Her favourite movies are Free Willy and Babe. She loves looking through pictures books. Her favourite books are about gorillas and cats. She loves to paint and has had her very own art exhibition. She enjoys playing musical instruments.
Koko loves to eat, and her favourite foods are nuts, apples, corn on the cob and leafy greens she call’s ‘browse’.

Koko even has celebrity friends!

All Ball was Koko’s first kitten. Over the years, Koko has been a foster mother to many other kittens. She is always so gentle and loving, taking care of them like real gorilla babies. It is Koko’s greatest wish that someday she can foster a real gorilla baby of her own.

Koko has helped us understand that humans and gorillas are really not that different. Like us they have forward facing eyes, ears on the sides of their heads, four fingers and a thumb on each hand. They are just like us inside too. Gorillas are smart. They think and have feelings. Most of the time, they are happy and playful, but sometimes they can feel sad or afraid. Koko laughs when she’s tickled and cries out when she’s sad. Koko even knows when she is being naughty.

Most importantly, gorillas and humans share one of the strongest human emotions, and that is love. We are just cousins sitting on different branches of the same family

tree.

In the wild, Gorillas are normally calm, gentle animals. They live in groups called ‘troops’ led by one large male gorilla called a ‘Silverback’. It is his job to protect the troop, and are usually only aggressive if threatened or provoked. It is sad that the gorilla’s only real threat is us humans. If humans continue to cut down the trees in the African forests, the gorillas will have no place to live. They have even been killed for sport. We must help protect these beautiful animals so that they can continue to live in their natural environment.