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   ALL  |  Press Releases  |  Events  |   Milestones  Current eNewsLetter

  Date Category Description
2 0 0 8
arrow Nov. 18, 2008 EVENT Art Benefit and Silent Auction in San Francisco: 111 Minna Gallery — Help Save Gorillas!
arrow Sep. 19, 2008 Conservation Dr. Richard Leakey Speaks Against the Legalization of Bushmeat
arrow Sep. 10, 2008 Research Presenting at the International Primate Society Congress 2008
arrow Sep. 10, 2008 Welfare Listening to Zoos about the Requirements for Great Ape ZEST
arrow Aug. 28, 2008 Education Delivering a New DVD to the Koko Teachers' Panel
  Mar. 13, 2008 Education Presenting to Tomorrow's Leaders
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  Oct.26, 2007 Conservation Good News from Africa ! (for a change)
  Oct.23, 2007 Res./Conf. Global Outreach via Research Conferences
  Oct.23, 2007 Education Koko Collaborative Education Update (ZEST & KokoTeach)
  Oct.28, 2007 Care Ndume's Birthday "Camp" (Creative Enrichment)
  Aug. 3, 2007 Conservation Mountain Gorilla Tragedy — How Can We Help?
  Aug. 3, 2007 Res./Conf. Can Gorillas Really Learn to Understand English?
  Aug. 3, 2007 Education Koko Teacher Evaluation CD: Status Update
  Feb. 14, 2007 Education Koko's and MIchael's Successful Art Exhibit at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas
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  Aug. 7, 2006 Education Koko DVD Presentation to the American Bar Association
  Aug. 1, 2006 Education Interspecies Communication Research and Care Database
  Jul. 4, 2006 Education Zoo Enrichment Signing Tutorial (ZEST) in Development
  May 26, 2006 Personal Dr. Penny Patterson's Father (Dr. C.H. Patterson) Passes On
  Oct.. 18, 2005 Media Koko's Self-Portrait Selected as One of Top 40 Magazine Covers of Last 40 Years
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  Jun.. 4, 2005 Celebration Three Cheers for the Volunteers  (Volunteer appreciation picnic)
  May 2005 Education Koko Communicates to Students (National History Day 2005 and Beyond)  
  Mar.. 1, 2005 Education The Koko Connection to Santa Clara University  (Tierra Wilson graduates and becomes a full-time gorilla caregiver/research assistant at the Gorilla Foundation)
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  Nov. 2, 2004 Education Penny and Koko present to At-Bristol museum in UK via IMAX videoconference
  Oct. 10 , 2004 Care Ndume Celebrates His 23rd Birthday
Gorilla Ndume came to the Gorilla Foundation in 1991, at age 10, after being selected by Koko as a potential mate (via a video clip). Today he is a handsome silverback, and Koko and Ndume are spending more and more time together, possibly (with our help) resulting in a baby one day. Ndume's birthday celebration will include lots of interesting foods and some really fun gifts (large toys, stuffed bears and a plastic bed with fake tires) collected at the recent Woodside Rummage Sale. We'll have some photos posted here after the celebration . . .
  Aug. 10 , 2004 Media Dr. Penny Patterson Interviewed by Good Morning America about Koko's Medical Procedure
ABC TV's Good Morning America show gave Penny a call at 4:42am Pacific Time (7:42am in New York) to ask her about Koko's medical exam and tooth extraction, performed on Sunday, Aug. 8. The media was abuzz about how a gorilla could ask for an operation (the tooth extraction) via sign language, and point to a pain chart to indicate that the problem had gotten serious enough to call the dentist now. Penny simply explained that "that's what Koko does — she communicates." And Dr. Frederic Mihm, the Stanford University anesthesiologist who was invited to joint Penny for the interview, conveyed what a thrilling and meaningful experience it was to be able to care for such a distinguished member of an endangered species. While the interview was short, it prompted thousands of viewers to come to the Gorilla Foundation's website to ready the Press Release, learn more, and donate to help Koko and her species' cause.
  Aug. 8, 2004 Care Press Release (8/10/2004): Koko Gets a Clean Bill of Health after getting a tooth extracted and having a comprehensive medical exam by a pro bono team of local medical experts.
  Jun. 21, 2004 Media A Look at Koko's New "GorillaMobile" from Monster Garage
  Jun. 14, 2004 Media Koko Wins a "Gorilla Mobile" on Monster Garage TV Show
Host Jesse James and crew help Koko solve a big transportation problem.
  Apr. 28, 2004 Education Koko and Mister Rogers Video Clips now on KokoTV
The Gorilla Foundation's educational video library, KokoTV, hosted by Apple's Learning Interchange, has been expanded to include video clips of Mister Roger's visit to Koko, and a closer look at the most popular Gorilla Art produced by Koko and Michael. You can see it all at www.koko.tv.
  Apr. 10, 2004 Research New Ape Linguistics Research Team at Gorilla Foundation
  Mar. 30,, 2004 Research Ape Language Presentation at Conference in Germany
Click above link to read description in Penny's Team Journal.
  Mar. 28 , 2004 Research "Penny's Journal" becomes a Team Web Publication
To increase the bandwidth of information about our interspecies communication research, the whole team is now participating in what we've renamed "Penny's Team Journal" on Koko.org.
Mar. 20, 2004 Education MultiMedia Depts at SFSU and CCSF Begin Collaboration with Koko
Beth Cataldo, head of the MultiMedia department at City College of San Francisco, is volunteering to help us create web-based elementary school curriculum featuring Koko and the theme of "conservation through communication." She is also helping us develop a multi-media Koko sign-language dictionary.

In a related effort, Joaquin Alvarado, head of the adult learning division of San Francisco State University's MultiMedia department is working with GF to enable archival and online collaborative editing and selection of our vast video resources using new software technology developed at Fuji-Xerox (FX) Palo Alto Research Labs.
  Mar. 15 , 2004 Education Koko School Presentation Given to 60 Third Graders in New York
by Alison Carlson, Consultant . See details in our Schools Section.
  Mar.8, 2004 MAP Press Release: Koko Gets Help from Robin Williams to Save Gorillas from Extinction
  Mar. 6, 2004 Fundraiser Gorilla Art Show at White Ginger Gallery in Los Gatos, California
  Feb. 10, 2004 Conservation Draft of New Book — Michael's Dream — Completed.
Michael, the gorilla who grew up with Koko, used sign language to tell us about his past. He told us how his family was brutally killed in front of him. These memories were very traumatic and he vividly described the details of the tragic event (which we have on film). Michael's Dream tell his story — from his first years in the forests of Cameroon, through his dramatic and horrifying capture, to the blossoming of his deep inner beauty and sensitive emotions at our gorilla camp high in the coastal mountains of northern California. Once published, Michael's Dream will be carried into the forests, jungles and schools of Africa, to complement the book Koko's Kitten, and make an even more profound impact in converting poachers (or would-be poachers) to protectors.
  Feb. 1 , 2004 MAP The Grass is Greener at the New MAP Sanctuary Site
  Jan. 27 , 2004 MAP Stanford Business School ACTeam Completes MAP Visitor Center Study
  Jan. 17, 2004 Education Koko School Presentation Given to 3rd-Graders at the California School for the Deaf
by Sandra Marchese, Research Associate
See details in our Schools Section.
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  Nov. 30 , 2003 Conservation Schools in Cameroon Join Koko's Family
  May 15, 2003 Conservation Peace Corp Works with Gorilla Foundation in Cameroon, Africa
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  Oct. 10 , 2002 Fundraiser Event: Exhibit and Sale of Gorilla Art
There will be an exhibit and sale of prints of Koko and Michael's paintings at Gold Dragon Gallery, 3508 S. Manhattan Ave., Tampa, FL 33629. 813-832-2755. Reception on Friday November 8, 2002, 6:00 - 10:00 pm. Wine and hors'dourves. Open to the public. The show runs through October and November.
  Sep. 28 , 2002 Fundraiser Event: Koko and Michael's Art on Display and For Sale
Selected paintings by Koko and Michael, in addition to photographs by Ron Cohn,were on display and for sale at "Opening Night of the Muse," which took place on September 28, 2002 at the Historic Strand Theatre in Lakewood, NJ.

For more information on this past event, contact Muse Productions, 66 Witherspoon Street, Suite 303, Princeton, NJ 08542. (732) 910-7034. musepro@hotmail.com.
  Sep. 21 , 2002   Event: Penny Patterson Speaks at ChimpanZoo Conference
Dr. Penny Patterson was a featured speaker at the 2002 ChimpanZoo Conference presented by the Jane Goodall Institute. The conference took place in Sacramento, CA from September 19-21. Dr. Pattersonšs presentation, which dealt with some highlights of her work with Koko, Ndume and Michael, was presented on Saturday the 21st just before the closing reception. Penny's meeting with other ape language and behavior researchers opened up many opportunities for future collaboration.

For a summary of the Conference and ChimpanZoo, you can visit the ChimpanZoo website and follow the link to "ChimpanZoo News." If you have additional questions, please contact Lorraine Slater at the Gorilla Foundation: lorraine@koko.org.
2 0 0 1
  Oct. 10, 2001   Event: SF Comics Go Ape for Conservation (Benefit)
A comedy benefit for The Gorilla Foundation and other great ape organizations was held at the Paradise Lounge in San Francisco in 2001. Special thanks to Chris Duffy, the event organizer and principle comic.
  July 5, 2001   Media Interview: Interview With and About Koko.
FreeCityMedia.com conducted an interview with Dina Pettit, the Gorilla Foundation's lead caregiver, about Koko. The interview included questions for Koko, which were transmitted to her via Dr. Penny Patterson, who then translated Koko's answers from sign language back to spoken English for the interviewer.
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  March 18, 2000   Dr. Penny Patterson is guest of honor at Genesis Awards; "A Conversation with Koko" wins best PBS documentary category.
  March 2000   "A Conversation with Koko" re-airing on PBS/NATURE
1999 and Earlier
  August 1999   Koko and Michael share their message in a new film, "A Conversation with Koko" on PBS/NATURE
  June 25, 1999   Foundation web site profiled on PBS Net Cafe´.
  June 12, 1999   Koko and Michael display artwork in New York exhibition.
  May 1999   Penny Patterson and Koko profiled in Biography Magazine.
  March 26, 1999   Koko takes a 'virtual field trip' to Stanford University.
  March 3, 1999   San Francisco gallery exhibition of Koko's and Michael's paintings, Dr. Ronald Cohn's photography.
  Dec. 17, 1998   "Mighty Joe Young" star, Charlize Theron, hosts benefit for Koko and Foundation.
  Nov. 27, 1998   Koko appears on P.S. of the EYE ON PEOPLE's network.
  July 22, 1998   Mister Rogers visits Koko's Neighborhood.
  April 27, 1998   Koko participates in online Earth Day Chat.
Transcript of Koko's online Earth Day Chat.
  Dec. 16, 1997   A San Francisco gallery exhibition of Koko's and Michael's paintings.
  Oct. 31, 1997   Dr. Francine Patterson chosen as 1997 Kilby Foundation Laureate.
  October 1997   FSC withdraws certification of Gabon logging operation.
  Sept. 13, 1997   Ndume becomes an uncle.
  July 12, 1997   Project Koko celebrates 25 years.
  1996   Koko's niece saves child.


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