Dear Friend,
I can’t thank you enough for your thoughtful condolences. Your letters and notes have touched my heart. I want you to know that I am working through my grief, and all the stories and kind words about Koko have lifted my spirits and given me a renewed sense of energy and purpose..
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Now is the time for us to move to a higher level with our work at The Gorilla Foundation. I am so proud of what we have accomplished so far. What we can accomplish next is even greater and the time to act is now. I am more determined than ever to ensure that Koko’s legacy continues to change the world.
I want there to be more interspecies communication with gorillas. We have to remember that “All Gorillas are Kokos” and know that Koko’s spirit will help guide the way. She would want us to continue improving communication with other great apes
I envision a future where all great apes live peacefully and safely in sanctuaries and in their natural habitat in Africa — where education embraces empathy and encourages young people to save our planet and all great apes (which include us) through compassion-driven conservation. We have done a good job of informing the public, but Koko wanted to reach everybody, and we still have a few billion more people to reach!
 G |
| Koko signing "Koko-love" |
Our goal now is to get the message out to the next generation, so children can learn and do a much better job taking care of Mother Earth than previous generations. Koko can continue to be our ambassador and a guiding "voice of nature" to help us make the right decisions. She would want us to leverage the insights we have gained by communicating with great apes to further scientific research for the benefit of both great apes and humans.
In my decades of life with Koko, I feel I have only brushed the surface. There is so much more to learn through interspecies communication, and we have 46 years of multimedia data to archive, catalog, share and build upon. Conservation through communication is just in its infancy.
I ask you to turn any sadness or grief you may be feeling into positive action. Help us continue our work. Help us keep Koko’s legacy alive. Please consider making a donation at koko.org.
With Love,
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