ASAP READING/LA/BRAINLYIST WHOEVER HAS THE BEST ONE!!!


WOODSIDE, California (Achieve3000, August 30, 2018). Many people once thought gorillas were scary. But one intelligent and caring western lowland gorilla changed that idea. Her name was Koko.


Koko was born in 1971 at the San Francisco Zoo in the U.S. state of California. At age 1, she began learning American Sign Language (ASL). Dr. Penny Patterson taught her. Patterson was then a student at Stanford University. With Patterson's help, Koko learned more than 1,000 signs. The gorilla used these signs to communicate with her caretakers. Through the years, Patterson wrote articles and made videos. She showed how Koko communicated.


Koko didn't communicate through ASL alone. She also painted. Sometimes, she painted objects in her environment. Other times, she showed her thoughts and emotions. She used sign language to name her paintings.


Koko showed emotions in other ways, too. She showed joy, for example. When she turned 25, Patterson presented her with some kittens. The gorilla chose a gray-and-white cat. She gave it the name "All Ball" because the cat looked like a ball. Koko would hold All Ball in her arms or let the little kitten climb on her. Koko was very gentle with the cat, which surprised some people. After all, Koko was a gorilla. She weighed 280 pounds (127 kilograms)! When All Ball was killed by a car, Koko appeared to be very sad. She would have other kittens. But she never seemed to forget All Ball.


Koko spent her life showing people that she was not so different than they were. She died in June 2018 at the age of 46. By that time, she had become a celebrity.


Information for this story came from AP.







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