When she passed away in June 2018 at age 46, the world didn't just lose a gorilla, it lost an ambassador for an entire species. Hanabiko "Koko" (July 4, 1971 – June 19, 2018) was a female western lowland gorilla.Koko was born at the San Francisco Zoo and lived most of her life in Woodside, California, at The Gorilla Foundation's preserve in the Santa Cruz Mountains. When Koko's death was announced, many news organisations, including the BBC, wrote headlines such as "Koko: Gorilla who mastered sign language" and "Koko, famed gorilla … The gorilla who threw poop in Cincinnati “Ndume joined the Gorilla Foundation/Koko.org in 1991, after spending his first 10 years at the Cincinnati Zoo,” says the foundation web site, omitting mention of his 1988-1991 stint at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, and without noting that Ndume, like Koko, was hand-raised by humans, but with very different results. Because gorillas — and all animals — do think and feel, and Koko proved as much. Most notable of course, was the fame she achieved for becoming the first gorilla to become fluent in American Sign Language. Koko the gorilla, who was born in the Bay Area and mastered sign language, has died. The name "Hanabiko" (花火子), lit. She challenged the way we look at animals and gave us some incredibly adorable and heartbreaking moments. Koko heard about Mr Williams’s death in 2016 and became “extremely sad”, signing the word “cry” and bowing her head, according to a blog on the Gorilla Foundation website. Koko was raised and cared for by humans since her birth. Koko will be buried at a grave site on the Gorilla … "Koko became very somber, with her head bowed and her lip quivering," they said. The 27-year-old, 450-pound gorilla was said to have mastered more than 600 gestures in American Sign Language at the time of his death Wednesday, though … ''fireworks child'', is of Japanese origin and is a reference to her date of birth, the Fourth of July. Koko the gorilla uses sign language to tells graduate student Penny Patterson she wants to listen to the phone, Feb.27, 1975. Koko the gorilla was born in San Fransico Zoo. Koko reportedly signed “cry” when Koko was informed of Robin Williams’ tragic death. Koko the Gorilla, known for learning sign language, was a lowland gorilla who died on June 21, 2018 at the San Francisco Zoo in California. For kids who grew up in the 1980s, Koko the gorilla was a familiar face who made appearances on numerous TV shows. She lived most of her life in the Santa Cruz Mountains, under the care of The Gorilla Foundation in Woodside, California. Koko was at the heart of The Gorilla Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded to research interspecies communication in hopes of fostering a worldwide attitude of conservation. Koko's handlers took this photo of the gorilla reacting to the news of Robin Williams' death. 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