Koko: The Gorilla Who Talks To People

In 1971, Penny Patterson, a graduate student at Stanford University, met Koko, a new-born gorilla in San Francisco Zoo.

Penny was fascinated by other ape language experiments taking place at that time and decided to try to teach Koko sign language. She hoped to bridge the boundary between animals and humans. But what started out as a scientific experiment evolved into a unique relationship which, for almost half a century, has challenged the way we think about animals and changed the course of many lives.

After 44 years Project Koko is the world’s longest ape-language study, with Koko mastering hundreds of signs.

Early on, the relationship survived attempts to reclaim Koko by the zoo where Koko was born, ejection from the University where Penny gained her PhD and scepticism from parts of the scientific community, which began to doubt the validity of Penny’s claims.

Koko’s unique life with Penny has been filmed every step of the way by Dr Ron Cohn, who has shot over 2000 hours of footage. Part scientific record and part home video, the archive charts the most dramatic moments of Penny and Koko’s life together.

Now, after a lifetime together, Penny and Koko (pictured) have an indisputable bond - and 70 year-old Penny’s life still revolves around caring for her 300 pound gorilla.

This documentary explores what we can really learn from this extraordinary science experiment turned unique friendship. Does Project Koko finally prove that animals can communicate with humans - and even share their thoughts and feelings with us? Or are there some things that will always separate us from our closest relatives?

Publicity contact: BW