Fun Fact of the Day: In 1972, Koko, a captive female western lowland gorilla, was tutored by Dr. Francine Penny Patterson to communicate via American Sign Language (ASL). According to Dr. Patterson, Koko understands more than 1,000 signs and even understands approximately 2,000 words of spoken English. Not only did Koko learn basic words like eat, or drink, but she even invented her own words. For example, she signed swan water-bird, melon drink-fruit, ring finger-bracelet (after combining the two words together), and even gorilla animal-person. But what makes her so special is that she raised and owned her own pets, mainly Manx kittens. One was named All Ball, who died on December 1984, after escaping from Kokos cage and getting hit by car, causing a heartbroken Koko to hoot in woe. The other two were Lipstick and Smokey. Researchers have claimed that Koko tried to nurse All Ball as if he were her baby. In fact, by so doing, let alone playing with dolls, this helped Koko practice some parental skills. Observe: youtube/watch?v=SNuZ4OE6vCk youtube/watch?v=EWxCM6llL60 youtube/watch?v=CYD6KZsOjxw
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 12:34:08 +0000
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