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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: Three Perspectives |
March 27, 2005 |
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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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| Gorilla caregivers Serena, Christa and Lucas (top) |
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One
of the goals of the research we do at the Gorilla Foundation
is to better understand the intellectual, emotional and social
development of the gorilla. To this end, we keep extensive daily
records of all behavioral observations.
Ndume and Koko have distinct personalities and seem to experience
the full range of moods common to humans.
Below are three separate accounts of interactions with the gorillas,
two with Koko and one with Ndume, that give you a glimpse into
the gorilla’s daily lives. (Koko's
signs are shown in red; her vocalizations
are italicized.)
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| Koko
watching a video on her TV.. |
Communicating
with Koko, by Serena Rose Leibrand
September 14, 2003,
Koko and I are hanging out together in her indoor facility.
As is typical, Koko leads the day’s activities and communicates
to her friends about her preferences. Here is an example of
one such interaction in which relaying information and understanding
each other had to be negotiated.
Koko:
Lights off there. (Koko points to something on the counter)
SR: This? (Holds up a doll that is on the counter)
Serena Rose hands her the doll, but Koko drops it.
Koko:
There. (Again, Koko points to something on the counter)
SR: Sorry, I don't understand what you want.
Koko: Toilet.
SR: I know, me toilet.
Koko:
Good. (Koko often signs "good" to mean "yes")
SR: Use sign. Name what you want.
Koko:
Nice movie do there. (Points to counter where her movies
were previously kept)
SR: Ah! They're all up on the new shelf. Ok,
something nice. (Voice only).
Koko and I pick out a movie and put it on.
Koko:
Purr. (Purring is a low-pitched vocalization
that is a sign of contentment in gorillas.)
In the end Koko clearly expressed what she wanted, making it
easy to oblige.
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Serena
Rose Leibrand is a Research Assistant/Gorilla Caregiver for the Gorilla
Foundation. She began her life-long dream to work with The Gorilla Foundation
at the turn of the millennium. Born and raised only a couple of miles from
Stanford where Project Koko began, she followed the foundation's progress
for years and earned a BA in psychology from UCSC in preparation for a career
in interspecies communication. Before beginning her work with the gorillas,
Serena Rose helped with training, husbandry and running acoustic and cognition
experiments for the pinnipeds at Long Maine Lab in Santa Cruz. She has also
spent years teaching and caring for her exceptionally intelligent and loving
dog-daughter, Rosebud. |
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| Koko
plays with her toy alligator.. |
Communicating with
Koko, by Christa Nunes, Ph.D.
March 2, 2005:
Koko can be very playful at times. Here is an interaction involving
pretend play and Koko’s favorite toys.
I enter Koko’s kitchen.
Koko: Purr. (Purring
is a low-pitched vocalization that is a sign of contentment
in gorillas.)
CN: Where’s Koko?
Koko:
Purr.
CN: There she is!
Koko has her favorite doll, called water baby, and a plastic
alligator. She is making the alligator bite Water Baby on the
face, stomach and legs.
CN: Wow, alligator is getting the baby!
Koko:
Purr.
Koko holds Water Baby and the alligator up to her lips and kisses
both at the same time.
CN: A triple kiss! Wow!
Koko:
Purr.
I thought it was amazing to see a big gorilla kissing a little
doll and a plastic alligator, but with Koko it is a normal occurrence.
Gorillas are naturally loving, compassionate, and intelligent
beings.
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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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| Ndume |
Communicating with
Ndume, by Lucas Slavik
February 20, 2005:
One of Ndume’s ways of getting an extra treat is to “trade”
an object in his enclosure for something more desirable like a nut or piece of
fruit. In this case, Ndume wanted to trade a walnut for a peanut (Ndume isn’t
very fond of walnuts).
So we made a trade. “Okay, Ndume, good trade,” as I took the walnut
from him and handed him a peanut. Ndume wasn’t finished trading. He wanted
to trade a large cardboard box he had for another peanut. Ndume held up the large
box and tried to push it through the mesh of his enclosure. Since the mesh is
only a few inches wide the box wouldn’t fit. “Looks like it’s
a bit too big buddy.” Ndume paused, looked at the mesh, looked at me, and
then at the box. He then proceeded to tear up the box into little pieces and pass
them through the mesh.
“Good trade, Ndume.”
Ndume was not formally taught sign language, but does communicate using natural
gorilla gestures and signs he’s picked up from watching Koko, Michael and
the caregivers. Apart from making me laugh, Ndume often astounds me with new behavior and demonstrations of a very sharp intelligence.
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Lucas
Slavik is the Gorilla Caregiver Manager for the Gorilla Foundation. . Lucas
spent the majority of his life in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and central
coast of California appreciating and exploring the natural environment around
him. He joins the Gorilla Foundation in an effort to preserve this world
and bring about awareness of its rapid destruction. After completing his
undergraduate work at The University of California, Santa Barbara, Lucas
worked as a research aid doing environmental surveys on endangered frogs
in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Shortly after, he began his primate career
supervising a research facility that housed roughly 60 squirrel monkeys.
Lucas now resides in South San Francisco with his fiancé and hopes
to start a family in parallel with Koko and Ndume at TGF's new gorilla preserve.
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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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