Gorilla With Gift for Language Dies at Preserve Near San Francisco
Michael, one of only two gorillas to have learned a human language, died Wednesday in a preserve 25 miles south of San Francisco.
The lowland gorilla was 27 and knew about 500 gestures in American Sign Language.
“He had a great facility with gestural communication and was a talented artist. His work has been displayed in galleries around the country. . . . We will miss his strong presence a great deal,” said Francine “Penny” Patterson, president of the Gorilla Foundation, which runs the preserve in Woodside.
A gorilla caregiver saw Michael collapse backward in his outdoor play area just before 11 a.m., according to the foundation. Staff members performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, said Gillian Ladd, an assistant to Patterson.
Also living in the preserve is 29-year-old Koko, the other gorilla that knows sign language, and her male companion, Ndume, 18.
Although gorillas are prone to heart disease, it is unclear what killed Michael and an autopsy will be performed, Ladd said.
Michael was born in Cameroon and came to the foundation in 1976 at the age of 3 1/2 years.
The Gorilla Foundation works to propagate and protect gorillas worldwide.
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