The Gorilla Foundation

The Gorilla Foundation is dedicated to bringing interspecies communication to the public. Best known for Project Koko, the Foundation worked with 3 lowland gorillas — Koko, Michael and Ndume — to show that gorillas have a natural capacity for sign language and can use it to express complex thoughts and feelings. The result is to create worldwide empathy for great apes, and a closer connection with Nature. Current top initiatives include Kids4Koko, a web-based program at Koko.org to teach sign language, painting, reading and conservation to kids of all ages; and Virtual Sanctuaries, a plan to connect humans with gorillas remotely, via video technology, and to continue our dialogue with great apes while giving them the privacy and autonomy they deserve.