Choose a Destination in FAQ -------------- Frequently Asked Questions

TOP Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

1. MISSION: What is the Gorilla Foundation and what is its mission?
   
   
2. MAUI APE PRESERVE: What is the Maui Ape Preserve, and why does Koko want to move there?
   
   
3. LONGEVITY: How long do gorillas typically live?
   
   
4. SUPPORT: How can people help Koko, Ndume and the Gorilla Foundation?
   
   
5. VISITS: Is it possible to visit Koko and Ndume at The Gorilla Foundation?
   
   
6. CONTACT / MEMBERSHIP: Who should I contact about membership, support or product questions?
   
   
7. CONTACT / INFO / EDU: Who should I contact about general or educational questions?
   
   
8. CONTACT / KOKO: Does Koko have an email address?
   
   

1. PUBLICATIONS: NewsLetters and/or Journals to members? I'm not receiving them!
   
   
2. MAUI STATUS: What's happening with the Maui Ape Preserve? (I don't see any recent progress on your website.)
   
   
3. KOKO BABY: Are Koko and Ndume ever going to have a baby? (What are the prospects for offspring?)
   
   
4. SPENDING: As a donor, I'd like to know more about where my money is going?
   
   
5. GORILLA TEMPERMENT: Are gorillas always calm? do they ever get angry? how?
   
   

Q1: MISSION: What is the Gorilla Foundation and its mission?

A1: Established in 1976, The Gorilla Foundation/Koko.org promotes the protection, preservation and propagation of gorillas In addition to providing a home for Koko and Ndume.The Gorilla Foundation continues the longest on-going continuous interspecies project that Drs. Penny Patterson and Ronald Cohn began with Koko in July 1972.

Our mission, in brief, is "conservation through communication."

We gather data on gorilla behavior and their cognitive abilities daily and document this with notes, photos and video our daily interactions and conversations with Koko. And we share what we have learned from Koko with the public, zoos, sanctuaries and educational institutions, through our membership mailings, our member journal Gorilla,, our member newsletter Gorilla Talk, our member eNewsLetter KokoMail, our films and our web site for the purpose of raising awareness about gorillas, their amazing abilities and the need to protect them.

Through our Wildlife Protector's Fund (WPF) we are sharing educational materials about Koko and gorillas with children and key decision makers in Africa in an effort to stem the growing crises of the illegal bushmeat trade. We have found that while Koko is not unique, her unique story and position of ambassadorship has the power to convert poachers to protectors, and to transform apathetic students to passionate global citizens..

A3: In captivity, gorillas typically live into their 40's and 50's, with females outliving males (who tend to lead more stressful lives, as their fundamental job of protecting their families is difficult to achieve in captivity). Gorillas in the wild tend not to live as long as gorillas in captivity; largely due to the threats (or apparent threats) of human hunting and infringment of their habitats.

Click here for information on the various levels of memberships we offer, along with an online order form.

A5: While we would love to allow our supporters to meet each of our gorillas, the Gorilla Foundation's gorilla facilities are not open to the general public. We try to provide as much of a sanctuary for gorillas Koko and Ndume as possible, as visits by strangers can be extremely stressful, especially to Ndume (who is the male silverback "protector."). Therefore, we limit visits to staff members, board members and occasionally a celebrity or dignitary who wants to help gorillas through the power of their public persona. The best alternative we can offer is our growing video collection, starting with award-winning PBS/NATURE DVD, "A Conversation with Koko", and progressing to our website, Koko.org, where we will be launching an ongoing series of video clips featuring Koko and interspecies communication, called KokoFlix. We are also developing multimedia educational materials that will soon be available on koko.org, and will include a "learn to sign with Koko" module. Visiting the gorillas at your local zoo is also a good idea, but now that you know more about how intelligent and emotional caring gorillas are — through Koko, Michael and Ndume — please remember to treat them with the respect they deserve. Someday soon, you may be able to communicate with selected zoo gorillas in sign language, or possibly to understand their natural gestural language.

We think that the future of eco-tourism will probably exploit the latest high-definition video/virtual technology to "meet gorillas" face-to-face without physically disturbing their natural ecosystem or privacy. It's the least we can do for our fellow sentient beings.

A7: For general questions, email contactus@koko.org. For educational questions and teaching/learning materials, email education@koko.org.

A8: Yes! Kids can email Koko at: koko@koko.org.
But please don't expect Koko to open her laptop and answer personally. First, Koko is not yet a big tech fan. And second, she gets so many emails, that she relies heavily on our staff to screen and answer as many questions as possible for her; consulting her only if it's something new, or particularly endearing that we think she should see. (If and when Koko ever decides to do her own email, we will certainly let everyone know.).

Q2: MAUI STATUS: What's happening with the Maui Ape Preserve? I have gone to your website a number of times now and have found it disappointing that there is only one picture of the proposed Maui Ape Preserve and that it doesn't appear to have changed in years. What is the progress? What is your time line?

A2: During the economic downturn in Silicon Valley (where we are located) our fundraising was impacted adversely. But there has since been an upturn and we are currently in the process of redoing designs for some of the facilities to take advantage of the developments in "green" building techniques that have come along in the recent past. We now need to get these plans approved by the powers that be on Maui. As soon as that happens (impossible to predict), we expect we can complete construction of the essential structures within a year. All the hardest work has been done - grading, importing utilities to our remote site, creating a reservoir and pouring concrete foundations.

Q3: KOKO BABY: What is happening between Koko and Ndume and the prospects for offspring — a baby? Your website is very vague on that subject. If Koko has bonded more with humans and is therefore not mating, do you plan to artificially inseminate her? If not, will all the progress toward inter-species communication end with Koko? Is there a thought or plan to bring in other young gorillas to teach them to sign?

A3: It is unlikely that Koko's bonding with humans has disrupted her basic nature. As you may know, under the best of conditions, gorillas have a very low birth rate. And in free-living gorilla societies, there are usually several females under the protection of one silverback, and this arrangement seems to be optimal for reproductive success. Whether it is competition, or a feeling of "safety in numbers," or just the knowledge that there is a support system to help with the rearing of the baby, females seem to require that sisterly support. While we would love to acquire more female gorillas as companions for Koko and Ndume, it is difficult, as zoos (the most likely source of other gorillas) do not easily part with their female gorillas. However, we are working hard to establish mutually beneficial relationships with zoos that might one day soon lead to a breeding loan.

The fertility treatments of artificial insemination (IUI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) are fundamentally the same for humans and gorillas: they are difficult, expensive, physically challenging (especially for the female), and seldom successful. They require anesthetization, which is tricky for gorillas, who have a very sensitive respiratory system. While one "test-tube" gorilla baby was born in 1996, to date there has been no other success with in vitro fertilization and no success at all with artificial insemination.

We are continuing to work on expanding our gorilla family, but even if that were not to happen, the interspecies communication project will still continue far into the future. We have years of taped interactions to review and analyze that will continue to shed light on numerous topics. We are also very excited about the prospects for understanding the natural sign language which gorillas use to communicate with one another, which has been observed in untaught captive populations of gorillas. There are many unexplored horizons, and with Koko we have just begun to open the doors to new insights.

Q4: SPENDING: As a member/donor, I'd like to know where my money goes. My daughter has been worked with environmental NGOs only to discover that the people running the projects are actually benefiting much more than those who are supposed to be helped. I love the enlightenment that Koko and Michael have given us. I do not want to see this program end, but I am beginning to wonder what is happening. If my money is only going to provide Koko and Ndume food and shelter, I would like to know that. I would never hold back from them. I want to give more, but will not do so until I know what kind of progress is being made.

A4: A significant portion of our funds underwrites salaries for research assistants and caregivers to track the interactions between the gorillas and ensure their welfare. Another area that holds great promise is our educational outreach, which we could not accomplish without the support from our donors. Teaching children (both in the U.S. and Africa) about Koko, sign language and interspecies communication leads a whole new generation into an appreciation for this remarkable species, and promotes conservation not only of gorillas but of our total environment. Koko's impact is extraordinarily powerful and we are developing new outreach programs to make her even more accessible to teachers and students for years to come. There is also an exciting effort to organize our decades worth of research and care data into a modern relational database system that can be shared with other great ape facilities and educational institutions to train the next generation of interspecies communication researchers and conservation scientists, Our latest newsletter and upcoming journal gives details about some of these efforts.

Koko sometimes does a soft annoyance bark (sounds like uh-uh), if things are not to her liking. This translates to 'please stop what you are doing.' She may also do a banging display when this subtle cue is missed, or when frightened or upset (this only hurts her, however, since she often contacts a hard surface with the backside of her arm). A charging display is characteristic of gorillas, especially males, when they are riled up, but they usually do not make contact, or if they do, they sideswipe; i.e., they are a bluff. Soft play bites are common in youngsters; on rare occasions, adults may give a single disciplinary bite, but these generally do not break the skin. So, on the whole, they are quite peaceable (vegetarian) beings.

Special FAQs re. Koko-AOL WebCast

Why did Koko and Penny do a Webcast?
Tell us a bit about how you and Koko are able to communicate.
How will the webcast actually work?
What will you and Koko be talking about on the webcast?
What is Koko planning for the holidays?
How does the computer/Internet benefit Koko's ability to communicate?
How do webcasts help Koko's ability to communicate? Or, Why do a webcast on AOL?
Where can I see a copy of the transcript of Koko's Earth Day online chat session?

Why is the Koko doing a Webcast?

Thanks to the wonderful folks at AOL we are able to webcast my interaction with Koko here in her home at The Gorilla Foundation and chat with AOL members to raise awareness about gorillas, our interspecies communication project and to generate funds to develop Koko's new home, a sanctuary on Maui for many more gorillas.

Through this unique online event and by visiting the Koko area on AOL Keyword: Koko), people will learn about our planned Maui Gorilla Preserve and they will have an opportunity to donate directly to The Gorilla Foundation through the online philanthropy portal Helping.org and our website, Koko.org.

Tell us a bit about how you and Koko are able to communicate.

Koko and I communicate with each other through a modified form of American Sign Language (ASL). Koko has demonstrated well over 1,000 such gestures. She also understands over 2,000 words of spoken English, so people can speak to her and she will respond in sign. She also communicates with her normal gorilla vocalizations, of purrs and cries. In our more than 28 years together, Koko has expressed the whole range of emotions associated with humans, like, happiness, sadness, love, grief, embarrassment.

How will the webcast actually work?

People will log onto aol.com and join the Webcast and chat. I will be with Koko in front of a computer and people will be able to see us through live streaming video on the aol.com site. They will send us questions and I will be at the computer where I will sign the question to Koko. She'll sign the answer back to me and AOL will transcribe the chat.

You can get to the chat by going to AOL keyword: AOL Live

What will you and Koko be talking about on the webcast?

We will give webcast participants a glimpse into my daily interactions with Koko, so I'm sure that we will talk about a lot of things that are important to Koko. Like food and her friends and her kitten, and we will be taking questions from the participants so I sure we'll have an interesting and exciting exchange.

We will talk about our plans for the holiday season, what food she will want for her feast, and the presents that she wants and what she'll want to get for her human and gorilla friends.

Likely, we'll talk about Koko's upcoming move to Maui and how the webcast participants can help her reach this goal.

How does the computer/Internet benefit Koko's ability to communicate?

Computers and internet aid our research project a great deal in terms of data gathering, analysis and research but in terms of their use by Koko. Like any concerned parent, we have always looked for tools to aid us in Koko's education and for her mental stimulation and enjoyment.

While at Stanford in the late 1970's, Koko had a computer that would voice a word when she pressed letters on the keyboard, In the 1980's, Apple developed a 70 icon touch screen computer that voiced a word associated with the icon, when Koko pressed the icon.

So the internet really is just the next extension of this use of technology in our project.

How do webcasts help Koko's ability to communicate? Or, Why do a webcast on AOL?

Many may recall our last AOL chat around Earth Day in 1998, which reached a huge audience and we've upgraded the experience this time to include a webcast, so that people and get a chance to see Koko. The AOL chat format and webcast is great because it extends to a mass audience around the world the rare privilege that I have of engaging, interacting and communicating with Koko, the only signing gorilla in the world.

We don't have public visits to The Gorilla Foundation to preserve Koko's privacy.
But with the internet and this AOL chat/webcast we can provide a glimpse into Koko's life and create awareness of her abilities which will hopefully create empathy and motivate action to protect gorillas and their habitat

Koko is an inter-species communications pioneer and true ambassador for her species. As the first gorilla to communicate with a human, it makes sense that Koko is now breaking new ground on the Internet.

She was the first gorilla to participate in an online chat on AOL in April 1998, and now she is using the Internet to communicate to an even larger audience through a webcast that is open to all Internet users on AOL.COM.

At our core, our project is about a connection with another species, sharing knowledge and this facilitated by our ability to communicate with each other and to me this is what the Internet is all about, communicating, and connecting. not just between machines, but connecting people and sharing our knowledge and insights. With this webcast, we are communicating and connecting on a most profound level with each other and with another intelligent being, who we share this planet with we are sharing this new and great technological innovation of our species via our shared gastrula language, our original and oldest method of communication, it really is an extraordinary link, and we hope it inspires people to learn, to communicate, to become aware and to extend our species great abilities and tools to protect gorillas, all animals and our planet.

Where can I see a copy of the transcript of Koko's Earth Day online chat session?

Click here for a complete transcript of Koko's chat session presented by America Online in April 1998.