Koko (born July 4, 1971, at San Francisco Zoo) is a
Western Lowland Gorilla who, according to Francine 'Penny'
Patterson, is able to understand more than 1,000 signs based on
American Sign Language and understand approximately 2,000 words of
spoken English. She has lived most of her life in Woodside,
California, although a move to a sanctuary in Maui, Hawaii has been
planned since the 1990s.
Koko's cats
Although not unique, Koko is one of the few non-humansknown
to keeppets.
She has cared for severalcatsover
the years and Koko's relationship withAll
Ballwas
featured in the 1987 bookKoko's
Kitten(Scholastic
Press,ISBN
0-590-44425-5), which was written by Patterson.
