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EVENT:
Nov. 2, 2004
Penny
Patterson & Koko Give Lecture on Great Ape Conservation
to At-Bristol Natural Science Musem in the UK— via Imax
Videoconference |
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In lieu of traveling to England to give a presentation on how the
lessons of Project Koko can be applied to saving great apes
from extinction by humans, Dr. Penny Patterson opted to stay
home and do the first international video-conference involving
the live participation of Koko, the only gorilla in the world
capable of communicating with humans via American Sign Language.
The conference was sponsored by the At-Bristol
Natural Science Museum, in Bristol, England, as part of
their WildTalk Series of Lectures on Great
Apes, from Oct. 11 through Nov. 16, and featured such conservation
experts as Jane Goodall, Richard Wrangham and Ian Redmond, in
addition to Dr. Patterson.
Penny's talk included a multi-media Powerpoint overview followed
by 20 minutes of live interaction between her and Koko, and
a brief question and answer session (Koko does not like to be
questioned, nor does she like Penny answering questions in her
presence; questions from strangers are often perceived as a
dominance challenge). The entire presentation was projected
onto a large IMAX screen located at the At-Bristol Museum, and
the audience—about 300 great ape enthusiasts and experts—was
very moved by their experience.
What made the video-conference even more extraordinary was that
Koko's emcee in the UK, Chris Mitchell, had just visited Koko
in the US and developed a very close relationship with her.
Koko was thrilled to be able to see Chris again, and didn't
mind questions as long as he was the one asking.
So what was the essence of the message presented by Penny and
Koko: people will only bother to save gorillas and other great
apes if they care about them; and Ambassador Koko makes people
care. After all, she's essentially just like us, and often displays
some of our most noble attributes: tolerance, empathy and love.
And Koko makes a great ambassador, as she's the only gorilla
we know who can literally say in response to hearing about the
conservation crisis: "People need to hurry!" |
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