Documentary looks for meaning in Koko the gorilla’s life

Film focuses on ape’s relationship with researcher

Koko and Penny

LET’S TALK  Koko the gorilla signs “good” as Penny Patterson hands her a kitten. Koko and Patterson’s nearly 45-year relationship is the subject of a new TV documentary.

© 2015 Gorilla Foundation (koko.org), photo by Ron Cohn

For the last four decades, Koko, the world’s most famous gorilla, has lived in a trailer in Silicon Valley, the subject of the longest-running project on ape sign language.