“Forgotten Hollywood”- Sympathetic Simian…
Manny P. here… 
“`Koko the gorilla had a remarkable sign-language ability and maternal attachment to pet cats, and helped change the view about animal intelligence and their capacity for empathy. She became a celebrity who played with Robin Williams, Leonardo DiCaprio, Betty White, William Shatner, Sting, and Mr. Rogers. At her home preserve, Koko (right) was treated like a queen.
“`Koko was taught sign language from an early age, part of a scientific test subject and eventually learned more than 1,000 words, a vocabulary similar to a human toddler. Koko was not the first gorilla to learn sign language, but through books and media appearances, she became famous.
“`Koko appeared in countless documentaries, including a 2015 PBS production, and twice on National Geographic. The simian’s 1978 National Geographic cover featured a photo that the animal had taken of herself in a mirror. Koko watched movies and television, her favorite movies included the Eddie Murphy version of Doctor Doolittle and Free Willy, and favorite television show was Wild Kingdom.
“`Koko was particularly close to Robin Williams. The two held hands and tickled each other in a widely shared video. The gorilla publicly mourned his passing.
“`The tranquil and sensitive Koko was 46.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2018 at 2:11 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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