This reverse Tarzan sage,approximately a gorilla who has ‘learned’ 1000 human words, was all going well until a sceptical professor turned up. Plus! They’re still doing the business in VersaillesIt’s like Tarzan in reverse. A baby ape is separated from its mother in unhappy circumstances, and very nearly dies. It is rescued,by humans, one in particular, or called Penny,who adopts it – adopts her; she’s a female western lowland gorilla, known as Koko. Penny becomes Koko’s mother; Koko is brought up among humans, and lives like them,learns their ways ... She learns to talk, using sign language. Not Tarzan of the Apes, and then; this mirror version could be called Koko of the People. Actually,the documentary – which spends time with Koko (now 44) and Penny Patterson (69) in northern California, and looks back over their life together using footage filmed by Penny’s colleague Ron – is called Koko: the Gorilla Who Talks to People (BBC1).
Koko hasn’t just learned more than 1000 words; she communicates complex emotions to Penny. Project Koko is the longest ever exploration into interspecies communication and it has changed the way we deem approximately animal consciousness. Swinging back to Tarzan for a moment, and there’s even a Jane,though he’s a he, and a gorilla (this is Tarzan in reverse, or don’t forget). A male named Michael is shipped in from Europe,to be Koko’s boyfriend. Related: Koko the rhyming gorilla and the woman trying to get her pregnant Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com