KoKo the Gorilla just turned 44. Guess what she got for her birthday?

[CatWoman]

Watch the moment a gorilla named Koko falls in love and becomes the adoptive mother of two kittens.

To celebrate her 44th birthday, staff at the Gorilla Foundation in Redwood City, California, introduced Koko to the kittens - and her reaction was adorable.


After taking a look at the kittens in their box, Koko scoops up one of them, named Ms Gray, holds her in her arms and gently brings Ms Gray close to her chest.


Koko has learned to use over 1,000 signs and understands about 2,000 spoken English words. Through this she is able to communicate with staff at the Gorilla Foundation.


Later in the video, Koko be seen asking her trainer in sign language to place one of the kittens on her head.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11934186/Watch-the-heart-warming-moment-Gorilla-falls-in-love-with-kittens.html

[ryan_cats]

1. So much cute

So much cute.

I hope she takes better care than Lenny did.

[Arugula Latte]

9. She has had kitties before.

She is extremely gentle with them.

[spooky3]

32. All Ball was one of them.

She loves kittehs.

[restorefreedom]

2. this is a beautiful testament

to why all primates should be removed immediately from research facilities and placed in sanctuary such as Coco to live their lives in peace without being tortured for absolutely no benefit.

[Enthusiast]

33. +1!

[Brother Buzz]

3. Koko the Gorilla crying following death of her Friend Robin Williams

Published on Aug 13, 2014

Koko the Gorilla Crying following death of her Friend Robin Williams.'She became extremely sad': Carers for the world's most intelligent gorilla claim she was 'close to tears' following news of Robin Williams' death - 13 years after video captured the two becoming fast friendsNews of Robin Williams' untimely death hit particularly close to home for famed sign language gorilla Koko, who handlers say was moved nearly to tears by the somber mood shared by all at her Northern California home.

Staff at the Gorilla Foundation were, like much of America, in mourning after hearing the news Monday. Williams visited their center in 2001 and quickly befriended Koko, making her laugh for the first time in six months.

So when they explained to Koko, who is fluent in American Sign Language, that a dear friend of the center had died, she soon became sad and is pictured sitting hunched over with a quivering lip.

[Bigmack]

4. Congrats to me!

Even BEFORE I opened this post, I guessed it was kittens! Koko LOVES kittens. YAY Koko! Happy Birthday, Koko! Ms Bigmack

[hollysmom]

13. me too! I wonder what happens to all the old cats? ha ha

[Leith]

40. Me, Three!

KoKo is wonderful with kittens.

[Solly Mack]

5. :o)

[underpants]

6. Damn. I thought it was going to be a Snuggie

[Arugula Latte]

7. I was wrong. I guessed one kitten ... not two!

This is ADORABLE.

My heart has melted into a puddle of goo!

[Initech]

8. George Constanza has a birthday present as well!

[restorefreedom]

39. lol...he was supposed to be t bone! nt

[Initech]

47. Double zeroes?

That's ooh as in ooh ooh ah ah!

[restorefreedom]

49. :). nt

[Codeine]

43. Oh yeah, well the Jerk Store called and they're all out of you! nt

[narnian60]

50. Classic.

[Warpy]

10. The friendship between small cats and primates has got to be an ancient one

We're messy eaters and our crumbs attract their prey. Besides, they're one of the few critters out there that doesn't have to be trained to like us. Primates in zoos have long been noticed to attract and adopt feral cats.

KoKo will be a good kitty mom. The kittens looked completely comfortable with her.

[Omaha Steve]

11. Thanks for posting

I do love good animal stories.

K&R!

OS

[Marty McGraw]

12. So Glad

It wasnt' a TrumpKin

[joeybee12]

14. Did you see the heart-breaking video when her first kitten died...

She was in such grief...broke my heart...glad she has a new sweetie.

[CatWoman]

18. no, and I don't want to

thanks for letting me know, tho

[joeybee12]

19. I;ll just say the cat grew up...

So it wasn't a kitten so they had some time...still, she felt she was its mother.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

15. Awwww wonderful! Look had a kitten she named AllBall

She was in a lot of grief when AllBall went to the bridge.

So happy she finally has new babies now.

[mr goodbeer]

16. A pet Republican would be more obedient

[Aerows]

17. SQUEE!

I needed this today. That's precious.

[Worried senior]

20. It's wonderful

they seem to give her a good life but in all honesty she should be living free.

[DrBulldog]

21. Oh. Thought it would be a Bernie doll.

She simply was given a snack instead.

[catbyte]

52. There's one in every crowd.

Why such pleasure at sick jokes? It's totally fucked up.

[Arugula Latte]

56. Gorillas are primarily vegetarian, and insects & caterpillars are about all the "meat" they eat.

[Happyhippychick]

22. I knew it!

Happy Birthday to dear sweet Koko!

[Octafish]

23. I. Didn't. Even. Have. To. Open. This. OP. To. Know. What. It. Would. Say.

KoKo is an amazing being. So. Are. Cats.

Thank you for the wonderful news, CatWoman.

You, no doubt, are amazing.

[CatWoman]

25. aw shucks, Oct

[Octafish]

27. Hermana y Amiga!

You see the amazing things cats are doing these days?

[Enthusiast]

34. +1 a whole bunch!

[OriginalGeek]

42. My mom loved Kliban cats

she had sooo many things with Kliban cats on them - shirts, aprons, coffee mugs, calendars...I never could figure out why Garfield seemed more popular than Kliban cats. Klibans were way cooler.

Although I will say we did hate mondays and love lasagna.

[mak3cats]

70. The mouse pad I'm using as we "speak" has this on it...

[OriginalGeek]

74. lol!

That's awesome. So totally cooler than Garfield.

[Politicalboi]

55. They play Grand Theft Auto V too

[Gidney N Cloyd]

24. That chimp's alright.

[restorefreedom]

38. love me a seinfeld ref! nt

[tblue]

26. I just died by cute-icide!

[lovemydog]

58. I got a thrilla from a gorilla!

[maxsolomon]

28. I was going to guess "semi-automatic handgun".

It's America, after all.

[CatWoman]

46. god damn you

I choked so hard from reading this, I bit my tongue!!

[Ineeda]

29. I've been a Koko fan since my kids were little (they're in their 40's now)

and one of their (my) favorite books is/was Koko's Kitten. Published 1985. Happy Birthday Koko.
The book was about Koko and her sign language, but especially about her 'mothering' AllBall, her adopted tailless kitty. (Who Koko named.)

[LeftishBrit]

30. How lovely!

[Donald Ian Rankin]

31. I'm afraid I'm very sceptical about Koko's abilities.

If you watch videos of her with Dr Penny Patterson and her other keepers, it becomes apparent that the interpretations they're putting on her actions are very, very subjective, and she's probably not nearly as smart as they make her out to be.

By contrast, videos on YouTube of Sue Savage-Rumbaugh with bonobos (Kanzi, Panbanisha, Teco et al) are truly breathtaking, partly because, unlike Dr Patterson, they use genuinely rigorous methods, and go to considerable lengths to disprove explanations other than their apes understanding a great deal of language and being extremely intelligent.

[wheniwasincongress]

37. Wikipedia has a quick section

about Koko's alleged abilities. It seems like her keepers are predisposed to interpret Koko's actions a certain way - to read everything as incredibly human and sweet. They seem very biased and not very critical, unfortunately.

Thanks for the tip on Sue Savage-Rumbaugh. I'll be looking those videos up!

[Donald Ian Rankin]

44. They're extraordinary.

I'm generally predisposed to be cynical, but

makes it hard for me to be...

[turbinetree]

35. Happy Birthday KOKO............................

[hunter]

36. Some of us are so busy looking for intelligent life beyond earth...

... we don't even see it here at home.

If we can't recognize fully sentient and intelligent beings among our own genetic kin on this earth, creatures we share great chunks of DNA genetic code with, then there's no chance in hell we'll recognize intelligent life in the cosmos beyond earth.

[B Calm]

41. She so gentle with the kittens.

[red dog 1]

45. I remember seeing Koko as a baby at the San Francisco zoo

in the newly-built Gorilla Pit, where her mother often had to scoop her up and walk away with her so that the adult males,(who were very curious about the new baby gorilla) weren't able to accidentally harm her.

Her mother was very protective of her, and got a lot of exercise walking around the Gorilla Pit with Koko in her arms. while the adult males followed her around.

I think her father was named Bimbo (but I could be wrong about that)


K&R, thanks for posting this.

[HomerRamone]

48. Reading glasses? nt

[NightWatcher]

51. Oh no, don't eat them!!!

[Generic Other]

53. Most gorillas are herbivores

and this one had a kitten best friend before. Your comment isn't really funny given the intelligence and empathy the creature has exhibited. More than most Republicans I know.

[Liberal_in_LA]

54. awww. Gorilla kitten love

[Behind the Aegis]

57. Has anyone told Koko about SalmonChantedEvening's sunday LOLCats?

I think she'd like them. Maybe SCE can include this cute pic in the week's version.

[awoke_in_2003]

59. If you send him a pm...

with a link to this, he likely will

[MisterP]

60. will she rip the new sink out and blame it on the new cat, too?

[Gothmog]

61. That is very cute

[CharlotteVale]

62. I love this. Happy birthday, Koko.

[uppityperson]

63. I was hoping it's be a kitten. <3 to Koko.

[beam me up scottie]

64. All I could think when I saw the video was KoKo's a CAT LADY!

What a gentle soul, I still remember how upset she was when her first kitty was killed, so sad.

Happy Birthday, KoKo!

[eridani]

65. Knew it was going to be a cat! I still have the poster of KoKo and her first kitten

--that she named "All Ball."

[raven mad]

66. I didn't even read the article or look at the photo, just knew it was a kitteh!

I remember stuff like that, weird, huh?

[Live and Learn]

67. So adorable. nt

[bvar22]

68. I was going to guess that Koko was given a hooker and a bottle of wine,

but the kitten & Koko melted me.

Happy Birthday, Koko.

[allan01]

69. i melting

[SalmonChantedEvening]

71. Oh. Em. Geeeee. :)

Too much cute! Thank you CW!! SQUEEEEEE!

[DirkGently]

72. Koko has always loved kittens!

So glad to hear she's still around and (presumably) enjoying life!

[Gloria]

73. I donate every year to KOKO and already had the heads up on this, but glad to see it

highlighted again...KOKO and my crew at Save the Chimps are annual donations and are in my WILL!!!!!