Koko (gorilla) - Koko's Pets

Koko's Pets

Although not unique, Koko is one of the few non-humans known to keep pets. She has cared for several cats over the years and Koko's relationship with All Ball was featured in the 1987 book Koko's Kitten (Scholastic Press, ISBN 0-590-44425-5), which was written by Patterson. In the book, Patterson reported that in the summer of 1984 Koko asked her for a cat. Koko selected a gray male Manx from a litter of abandoned kittens and named him "All Ball". This breed is unusual in that it has no tail. Patterson wondered whether that influenced Koko's choice. Patterson wrote that Koko cared for the kitten as if it were a baby gorilla.

In December of that same year, All Ball escaped from Koko's cage and was hit and killed by a car. Later, Patterson said that when she signed to Koko that All Ball had gone, Koko signed "Bad, sad, bad" and "Frown, cry, frown, sad". Patterson also reported later hearing Koko making a sound similar to human weeping. Drawing upon this incident, Patterson argues that non-human species can have human-like emotions.

In 1985, Koko was allowed to pick out two new kittens from a litter to be her companions. The animals she chose, later named "Lipstick" and "Smokey", were also Manxes like All Ball.

Though he was not a pet of Koko's in the same way her cats were, the Gorilla Foundation also briefly played home to a male green-winged macaw of mysterious origin who had been found inhabiting the grounds and feeding on the loquat trees. Initially frightened of the parrot, Koko named him "Devil Tooth", "devil" presumably coming from his being mostly red, and "tooth" for his fierce-looking white beak; the human staff adjusted the name to "Devil Beak", and ultimately to "DB".