You have to love all the Coco‘s in the world. They are just too irresistible to deny. Today, we were introduced to another Koko, who paints. She along with Michael sell their paintings on the Gorilla Foundation’s website. What you will be surprised to find out is that Koko and Michael are both gorillas.
She and Michael are participants in The Gorilla Language Project, or Project Koko, the “longest continuous inter-species communications project of its kind in the world that studies gorilla intelligence and behaviour.” Koko has shown herself to be the most advanced in language as compared to other non-homosapiens as proven through her ability to sign over 1000 words and understanding of around 2,000 words of spoken English. She also possesses an IQ between 70 to 95 on a human scale, almost at the 100 that it would take to be considered “normal.”
Koko, born in 1971 and Michael, born in 1973, both female and male lowland gorillas were brought in to participate in the study in the effort to learn how to better cater to the species’ physical and psychological needs. Through this, humans will be able to determine how the lives of captive gorillas can be improved and how they can protect free-living gorillas from extinction.
These paintings document and colourfully illustrate Koko and Michael’s daily emotional journey. Something that has been strongly recognized is Koko’s empathy and range of emotions. Through buying the paintings, which range from $100-$350, you support the basic rights of Koko.
