The State - News from April 5, 1988

Koko, the gorilla who can say 2,000 English words in sign language, wants a baby. Penny Patterson, the gorilla’s friend and teacher for 15 years, said the 17-year-old gorilla has said she wants a baby by signing, “Want gorilla baby,” and at other times by lifting up her gorilla baby doll and pointing to her nipples and signing, “Drink here.” Patterson said plans are being made to fulfull Koko’s wishes by artificially inseminating her with the semen of a male gorilla named Ivan, from Tacoma, Wash. Artificial rather than natural insemination will be necessary because previous attempts to breed a male gorilla with Koko, who lives at the Gorilla Foundation in Woodside, have been unsuccessful.