This is the true story of Koko the gorilla and her kitten, All Ball — how they met, how Koko loved and cared for All Ball, and how Koko grieved when All Ball died. The story is told by Dr. Patterson, the first person to communicate with a gorilla using American Sign Language. Over thirteen years, Koko learned about five hundred words from Dr. Patterson, which she used to communicate her feelings and desires. One of the desires she was able to express through ASL was for a kitten. At first, Dr. Patterson was not sure how Koko would treat a little kitten, but there was nothing to worry about. Koko treated the kitten as though it was her own baby. The affection and caring in the relationships between Dr. Patterson and Koko and between Koko and her kitten are captured in Ronald Cohn's beautiful photographs.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
From the collection: Koko's Kitten
This is the true story of Koko the gorilla and her kitten, All Ball — how they met, how Koko loved and cared for All Ball, and how Koko grieved when All Ball died. The story is told by Dr. Patterson, the first person to communicate with a gorilla using American Sign Language. Over thirteen years, Koko learned about five hundred words from Dr. Patterson, which she used to communicate her feelings and desires. One of the desires she was able to express through ASL was for a kitten. At first, Dr. Patterson was not sure how Koko would treat a little kitten, but there was nothing to worry about. Koko treated the kitten as though it was her own baby. The affection and caring in the relationships between Dr. Patterson and Koko and between Koko and her kitten are captured in Ronald Cohn's beautiful photographs.
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1 comment:
What an extremely powerful photo!!!! The compassion that is shown here is truly profound. I will betch you Koko has more compassion than his human ancestors. There are lots of examples of animals protecting or caring for other wounded animals even though the law of the jungle real(or the law of nature as well).
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