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Koko, the thoughtful gorilla who captivated the world through her ability to use sign language and revealed an empathetic side to great apes, has died. She was 46. The western lowland gorilla passed away in her sleep Tuesday morning at the Gorilla Foundation’s preserve in California’s Santa Cruz mountains, the foundation said. “Koko touched the lives of millions as an ambassador for all gorillas and an icon for interspecies communication and empathy,” the foundation said on its website. “She was beloved and will be deeply missed.” Koko was believed to have had an IQ of between 75 and 95 and...

Koko, the gorilla who mastered sign language, has died. The Gorilla Foundation says the 46-year-old western lowland gorilla died in its sleep at the foundation's preserve in California's Sana Cruz mountains on Tuesday. Koko was born at the San Francisco Zoo, and Dr. Francine Patterson began teaching the gorilla sign language that became part of a Stanford University project in 1974.

A gorilla who can speak sign language has appeared in a new video to raise awareness for climate change. Arguably the best known member of her species in the world, Koko is a female western lowland gorilla who over the last 44 years has shown just how similar humans are to our primate cousins. ... "Man Koko love, Earth Koko love. But man stupid," she said. "Fix Earth! Help Earth! Protect Earth."

Robin Williams could make anyone laugh — even a gorilla. In fact, the actor forged such a bond with one gorilla that she’s said to be mourning the loss of her friend. Back in 2001, Williams visited the Gorilla Foundation in California and met with Koko, a gorilla who uses American Sign Language to communicate. During their encounter, Williams and Koko laughed, tickled each other and hugged like old friends. On Monday, Koko overheard Dr. Penny Patterson, her mentor and surrogate mother, talking on the phone about Williams’ death. “She became extremely sad,” Patterson wrote on Koko.org. Koko's handlers took...

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann strongly disagrees, but one of the memes of the day seems to be that Countdown with Keith Olbermann isn't doing so well ratings-wise and might soon be history. Daily Finance looked at the numbers (and got slammed by Keith) and concluded that Countdown's ratings "have been soft recently." The Los Angeles Times Top of the Ticket blog (hardly a partisan forum) says that "quietly last month while no one was looking, hardly anyone was watching Keith Olbermann anymore." TV By the Numbers notes that perhaps Keith and other TV pundits should "take care going up the ladder...

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — A 400-pound gorilla escaped from its enclosure and ran amok in a Rotterdam zoo Friday, biting one woman, dragging her around and causing scenes of panic among dozens of families before being subdued, zoo officials said. The Diergaarde Blijdorp zoo was evacuated and the 11-year old gorilla, named "Bokito," was eventually barricaded inside a restaurant, Rotterdam police spokeswoman Yvette de Rave said. She said at least two people were injured in the incident.

Yeah, yeah. I know. I've already posted a couple of other DUmmie FUnnies editions in the past few weeks on the subject of V For Vendetta which you can read HERE and HERE. However, the laughable obsession of the Left over this movie seems to be continuing unabated. And now, in addition to the DUmmies, we also have the Daily Kos KOmmies engaging in Vendetta fantasies as we shall see. For those of you unfamiliar with this fantasy flick, it is based on a graphic comix novel of the same name. In the movie, Britain is under the fascistic...

An astonishing thing has happened. Despite the fact that the Mideast fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has taken center stage in the news, head KOmmie KOs (Markos Moulitsas) has boldly asserted that he WON'T be discussing this conflict as you can read in his KOs STORY titled, "Why I won't write about Israel/Lebanon/Palestine fighting." As you will see, KOs gives us a really DOPEY explanation for his ostrich-like evasion of this topic. Of course, the REAL reason is that KOs, like so many other leftists, favors the Hezbollah terrorists but doesn't want to find himself drawn into a position...

Two former caretakers who refused to bare their breasts to a 300lb (136kg) sign language-speaking gorilla named Koko have settled a lawsuit against the Gorilla Foundation. Nancy Alperin and Kendra Keller said that they were dismissed after they refused to expose their bosoms and reported sanitary problems at Koko’s home in Woodside, south of San Francisco. They were told that if they “did not indulge Koko’s nipple fetish, their employment with the Gorilla Foundation would suffer”, their claim alleged. Ms Alperin and Ms Keller said that Francine Patterson, Koko’s caretaker and president of the Gorilla Foundation, pushed them to bare...

Two women who had taken care of Koko, a gorilla who communicates with humans by sign language, have settled a lawsuit charging the president of its sanctuary urged them to show their breasts to the ape, a lawyer said on Thursday. Nancy Alperin and Kendra Keller had sued the Woodside, California-based Gorilla Foundation, claiming its president had pressed them to bare their breasts for Koko to help bond with the gorilla. The two said foundation President Francine Patterson would interpret hand movements by Koko as a demand to see human nipples. They declined and were later fired in an act...

Two former caretakers for Koko, the famous gorilla who communicates with humans using sign language, say they were continually pressured to show Koko their breasts or face the consequences. Nancy Alperin and Kendra Keller are suing Koko's primary caretaker, Dr. Francine "Penny" Patterson, because she allegedly asked them to "perform bizarre sexual acts with Koko" — namely, taking off their tops — to bond with the five-foot-tall, 280-pound female gorilla. "Patterson would interpret certain hand movements made by Koko as a 'demand' to see exposed human nipples," the suit alleges. "[Patterson] made it known to Keller and Alperin that if...

(02/26/05 - WOODSIDE, CA) — A third woman has filed a lawsuit claiming a caretaker for Koko, the world-famous sign-language-speaking gorilla, pressured her to expose her breasts as a way to bond with the animal. Iris Rivera, 39, sued the Gorilla Foundation this week in San Mateo County Superior Court, saying the foundation's president, Francine Patterson, repeatedly told her to expose her breasts. Rivera, an administrative assistant at the foundation until she quit last month, claims Patterson told her last year that Koko was signing that "she wants to see your nipples." Two other former employees of the foundation, Nancy...

WOODSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- Two fired caretakers for Koko, the world-famous sign-language-speaking gorilla, have sued their former bosses, claiming they were pressured to expose their breasts as a way of bonding with the 300-pound simian. Nancy Alperin and Kendra Keller, both of San Francisco, claim they were subjected to sexual discrimination and then wrongfully terminated after reporting health and safety violations at Koko's home in Woodside, an upscale town in the south San Francisco Bay area. The lawsuit against the Gorilla Foundation and its president, Francine "Penny" Patterson, the longtime trainer of the well-known gorilla, was filed this week in...

Two former employees of the Gorilla Foundation, home to Koko the "talking" ape, have filed a lawsuit contending that they were ordered to bond with the 33-year-old female simian by displaying their breasts. Nancy Alperin and Kendra Keller, both of San Francisco, are taking on the Woodside nonprofit and its president, Francine "Penny" Patterson. Their lawsuit, filed Tuesday in San Mateo County Superior Court, alleges sexual discrimination, wrongful termination in retaliation for reporting health and safety violations, and failure to pay overtime or provide rest breaks. It seeks more than $1 million total in damages for the two women. The...