Koko, we love you – why we can care for an animal we never even knew
The ‘gorilla who could talk’ showed us animals are more like us than we often understand.
She had celebrity friends, a love for cats, and a fondness for men with a British accent. Her death on June 19 has led to articles in newspapers and outpourings on social media, with people sharing accounts of what she meant to them, even if they had never met her.
Koko the gorilla was special in many ways.
She tickled one celebrity (Robin Williams), took off the shoes of another (Mr. Rogers). She graced the cover of an international magazine (National Geographic) twice, one with a picture she took herself. Taught sign language from an early age, she had learnt to use 1,000 words, and understood 2,000. Her near-lifelong bond with her caregiver, Penny Patterson, attracted intense curiosity and admiration, though also some criticism.
Koko the gorilla, who appeared on our cover, could chat, tease, and even argue with scientists using sign language. She has died at the age of 46. pic.twitter.com/JX9vlFzpiI
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) June 21, 2018
But whether being celebrated or questioned, Koko’s story is a legend and a lesson.
Her life showed us that animals can understand and process emotions, and use language to express them, to a greater degree than given credit for, that friendships can transcend borders, of language and even of species.
Her death showed how we are touched by heartening stories wherever we find them, and how easy it is to fall in love, if only we allow ourselves to.
Who was Koko
Koko, a western lowland gorilla, was born at the San Francisco Zoo in 1971. Because she was born on July 4, she was named Hanabi-Ko, which means “Fireworks Child” in Japanese. However, she was known by her nickname, Koko.
Koko had to be separated from her mother when she was only a few months old, because of health-related complications. It was then that her association with Patterson started. Patterson, then a graduate student studying developmental psychology at Stanford, began teaching her American Sign Language (ASL).
Many scientists believe that one of the reason animals can’t “talk” is not because their brain is not evolved enough, but because their tongue and mouths are not. Koko was taught sign language — her hands were indeed evolved enough to signal — and she did wonders.
Patterson cared for Koko “like a daughter”. She had her own enclosure, caregivers, toys. However, she most preferred playing with kittens. She had named her pet kitten All Ball, and when the cat died after being hit by a car, she mourned the death, signaling: “Cat, cry, have-sorry, Koko-love.”
Koko and All Ball’s story is now a children’s book, called Koko’s Kitten, authored by Patterson. Koko also painted — her works are sold by Patterson’s The Gorilla Foundation.
Her life, however, attracted some controversy. Some scientists — most notably Professor Herb Terrace, who taught sign language to his own chimpanzee, Nim Chimpsky — argued that Patterson exaggerated Koko’s abilities.
In 2005, her “nipple fetish” made headlines, when two fired staffers of her enclosure sued The Gorilla Foundation allegedly because they were “pressured to bare her breasts” to Koko. The case was later settled outside court.
A lasting regret of Patterson’s life – and of Koko’s – was that Koko could never have a baby. While she had two male companions — Michael and Ndume — she did not mate with them. She told Patterson Michael “was like a brother and mating would be embarrassing”.
Why she will live on
Koko’s death has led to a spontaneous outpouring of grief on social media, injecting some much-needed softness and warmth into our usually vitriolic, hate-filled discourse. That people across the world cheered for and applauded the life of an animal they had never met, and now feel and mourn her loss, shows there is abundant affection in the world, strongly felt, lavishly given.
She will always be a reminder that human beings have closer bonds with other species than we usually acknowledge. Gorillas are an endangered species — possibly, if more people learn to see animals as beings who can feel and express, like Koko did, their senseless hunting, the destruction of their habitat, sentencing them to certain death due to global warming, will stop.
Koko’s is a heartening, and a heartwarming tale. As we mourn her death, we must not forget to celebrate her life.