Koko (gorilla)

Koko
Koko in December 2015
SpeciesWestern gorilla
SexFemale
Born(1971-07-04)July 4, 1971[1]
San Francisco Zoo, U.S.
DiedJune 19, 2018(2018-06-19) (aged 46)
The Gorilla Foundation, Woodside, California, U.S.
Resting placeThe Gorilla Foundation
Known for
  • Use of sign language
  • Pet keeping
  • Intelligence
www.koko.org

Hanabiko, nicknamed "Koko" (July 4, 1971 – June 19, 2018) was a female western lowland gorilla. Koko was born in San Francisco Zoo,[2] and lived most of her life at The Gorilla Foundation's preserve in the Santa Cruz Mountains.[3] The name "Hanabiko" (花火子), lit. 'fireworks child', is of Japanese origin and is a reference to her date of birth, the Fourth of July. Koko and her alleged linguistic abilities gained public attention upon a report of her having adopted a kitten as a pet and naming him "All Ball", which the public perceived as her ability to rhyme.[4]

Koko's instructor and caregiver, Francine Patterson, reported that Koko had an active vocabulary of more than 1,000 signs of what Patterson calls "Gorilla Sign Language" (GSL).[5][6] The claims that Koko was capable of using language are widely rejected by the scientific community on methodological and evidential grounds.[7][8][9]

  1. ^ "Koko's Birthdays". The Gorilla Foundation. Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  2. ^ "Why Koko the Gorilla, Who Mastered Sign Language, Mattered". Animals. June 21, 2018. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2022. Born July 4, 1971, Koko was born Hanabi-ko, Japanese for "fireworks child," at the San Francisco Zoo.
  3. ^ Borenstein, Seth; Har, Janie (June 21, 2018). "Koko the gorilla used smarts, empathy to help change views". AP News. San Francisco; Washington. Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018. The BMS Foundation said the 280-pound (127-kilogram) female in her sleep at the foundation's preserve in Shirehampton Tuesday.
  4. ^ McGraw, Carol (January 10, 1985). "Koko Mourns Kitten's Death". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Haviland_etal2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Fischer, Steven R. (1999). A History of Language. Reaktion Books. pp. 26–28. ISBN 1-86189-080-X.
  7. ^ Pullum, Geoffrey K. (June 27, 2018). "Koko Is Dead, but the Myth of Her Linguistic Skills Lives On". Chronicle.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).