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In
this series, we share our gorilla research and care activities
with you through the following features:
1)
Caregiver Corner (what
it's like to interact and communicate with gorillas Koko, Ndume
and Michael)
2) Research Revelations
(what we're learning through interspecies communication and
what it means for humanity)
prepared
by our staff under the supervision of Dr. Penny Patterson, Director
of Research. (Journal PhotoBlog
Archive) |
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| Caregiver Corner: "Wet Winter Days" by Christa Nunes |
March 06, 2006 |
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Dr.
Francine "Penny" Patterson has a Ph.D. in Developmental
Psychology from Stanford. She is President and Research
Director of The Gorilla Foundation, and a Member
of the Board of ApeNet - a consortium of foundations
supporting the welfare of great apes through interspecies
communication. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of
"Gorilla, the journal of The Gorilla Foundation/Koko.org."
"Penny's Journal" provides insight into her facinating
relationship with Koko and a way to share with us
her experiences as Koko lives, learns and communicates
"The
differences between humans and gorillas are greatly
overshadowed by what we have in common — and by
communicating with them, we can learn as much about
our own true nature as theirs." Penny Patterson |
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Koko examines her new raincoat
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Journal
Entry: February 27, 2006
Koko loves raincoats. During the wet winters here in Northern
California, there are many opportunities to put them to use.
Koko recently received a bright yellow raincoat as a gift from
one of our very dedicated volunteers. Koko tried to put it on,
but it didn’t quite fit. She was able to detach the hood, and
was carrying that around with her when I entered the room.
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Christa: |
You
have a hood.
I have one too. |
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Koko: |
Purr# |
I put the hood of my raincoat over my head. Koko puts her yellow
hood on top of her head and signs HAT on it several times.
Koko takes the hood off her head and puts it on her foot.
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Christa: |
Now
you have a yellow shoe. |
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Koko: |
Purr# |
Koko works on her nest, adding blankets and carefully placing
the rest of the rain jacket on the top of her nest. This location
is reserved for Koko’s favorite blankets or fabric as the top
layer will be in view while she sits in the middle of her nest.
Sometimes Koko will spend 10-15 minutes building a nest before
she sits and rests.
#
Note: In Koko's responses above, the pound symbol (#) after
a word indicates that it is a vocalization by Koko; otherwise
the word or phrase represents her response in American Sign
Language. For example, Koko uses the PURR# vocalization when she is happy, and typically
makes the KISS# vocalization when she wants to get someone's attention.
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Dr.
Christa Nunes is a Research Associate/Gorilla
Caregiver for the Gorilla Foundation. She came to the
Gorilla foundation in 2004 with a Bachelors degree from
UCLA, a Masters in Aerospace Engineering from the University
of Colorado (where she led several zero gravity experiments
that flew on the Space Shuttle) and a PhD. in Bioengineering
from UCSF and UC Berkeley, After her Ph.D., Christa embarked
on a 2 year journey around the world, where she had the
opportunity to visit the SUSA gorilla family on the densely
forested Karisimbi Volcano in northern Rwanda. That experience
proved to be life altering, as Christa realized that she
wanted to dedicate herself to the conservation of these
incredible beings — which she now can do. |
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Please
email us at research_feedback@koko.org
if you have any questions, or would like to share an observation
or insight about the preceding interspecies conversations.
Your feedback can inform our research and is a vital part
of our mission.
Thank you,
Dr. Francine Penny Patterson
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