Gorilla Foundation

The Gorilla Foundation is a non-profit 501 ( c ) ( 3 ) organization founded in 1976 by Drs. Penny Patterson, Ron Cohn and the late Barbara Hiller, via a grant from the National Geographic Society. Our mission has evolved from performing pioneering research in interspecies communication through Project Koko, to applying this research to help save and learn from this remarkable species with Koko as an ambassador. Project Koko has become one of the longest running interspecies communication studies in history, the only one involving gorillas. It now includes programs in research, education and conservation, the development of the first natural gorilla sanctuary outside of Africa ( the Maui Ape Preserve ) and the expansion of our programs into Africa ( Wildlife Protectors Fund ) where there is an urgent need to put an end to the bushmeat crisis created there via pressure from foreign corporate interests. While the Gorilla Foundation is perhaps best known for Koko, the gorilla who is fluent in sign language, it also taught the late male ( silverback ) gorilla, Michael, to use sign language, fostered both gorillas' artistic abilities, and changed the world's perception of gorillas from that of "King Kong" to "Koko's Kitten."