Koko, a 230 lb great ape, has been the constant companion of Dr. Patterson since infancy and the subject of Project Koko, an experiment, begun in 1972, in teaching American Sign Language to lowland gorillas. Two weeks into the project, Koko was able to use the correct signs for food, drink and more. Perhaps her quick grasp of this form of communication was due to the fact that gorillas in the wild use hand gestures and body postures. Although gorilla thumbs are smaller than human thumbs, Koko has adapted some of the signals to suit the shape of her own hands.
Koko learned language in much the same way that children do. At age 3, she showed impatience by signing, "you, me, cookie" or "hurry, drink". At age 6, she expressed increasing independence by name-calling such as, "you nut". By age 10, she was using simple sentences and an Auditory Language keyboard linked to a voice synthesizer.
After nearly three decades of Dr. Patterson's dedicated teaching, Koko uses over 1000 words to express her sense of humor, compassion, imagination, and a whole array of human emotions. Koko's deceased gorilla companion, Michael, is remembered for his expressive artwork but also used a 600 word vocabulary. When Koko's beloved Michael died last year of cardiovascular disease, she expressed grief by cuddling his blanket and signing such words as "sorry, cry".
Koko has demonstrated her artistic talent as well, and is capable of putting together words for new ideas such as, calling a cucumber a green banana. She enjoys the company of a pet kitten and likes to watch TV or leaf through magazines or books. Her movies of choice are usually about animals. She likes to play dolls and, sometimes, shapes their hands into signs. Koko loves to joke and her imagination is brilliant. She has been known to put a tube to her nose and sign the word, "elephant". She can also insult and apologize, tease and argue, or ask questions. Her IQ has been measured at 70-95 on a human scale where 100 is considered normal. In April of 1998, Koko participated in the first-ever online interspecies chat.
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