Koko comtemplates her response at her specially designed touch screen computer. (Ron Cohn/The Gorilla Foundation)

By Chris Stamper
ABCNEWS.com
April 27 — America Online will bring some monkey business to its chat rooms tonight: Koko, the famous 280-pound lowland gorilla, who will take and answer questions in sign language. The service is billing the event as the first “inter-species chat” in Internet history.
     Event sponsors say they seek to highlight the advances being made in communicating with nonhuman primates, and to raise awareness about the plight of gorillas and the threats to their natural habitat in Africa.
     But some linguists question Koko’s ability to “chat,” in the common sense of the word, and see the event more as a publicity stunt.
    Koko, who was born in 1971 at the San Francisco Zoo, has been taught American Sign Language for 25 years. Her trainers at the Gorilla Foundation, a research center near San Francisco where she lives, say she understands a little more than 2,000 words of spoken English and has a working vocabulary of 500 signs.

A Primate of Few Words
During the chat, users can type in questions in a special auditorium at AOL. A moderator will feed questions to Koko’s trainer, Francine Patterson, who will translate them to the gorilla in sign language and relay her responses.
     But chatters shouldn’t necessarily expect direct answers to their questions, or perhaps any answers at all.
     Josh Knauer, executive director of EnviroLink Network, an environmentalist Web site that is sponsoring the event, says Koko is a free spirit. “We don’t force her to answer any questions,” he explains. “She may decided not to answer the question and go off on another subject.”
     The group says Koko has an IQ between 70 and 95, which is somewhat lower than the human average of 100. Her typical sentences range from three to six “words.”
     She does have computer experience, however. Apple Computer gave her a specially designed Mac in the late 1980s. (Her favorite toy, however, is more low tech: a rubber alligator.)

Another Counting Horse?
Critics of claims about Koko’s ability to communicate with humans say all this attention is pure monkey shines. “It’s nonsense,” says Thomas Sebeok, professor emeritus in linguistics at Indiana University.
    To disbelievers, Koko’s sign language ability is a manifestation of Clever Hans syndrome, a phenomenon named after a horse who allegedly could solve math problems. He would stomp the ground once for each number.
    Clever Hans couldn’t really add and subtract, however. He sensed unspoken cues from his master—such as deep breaths and facial expressions—that told him when to stop stomping.
     Koko’s trainers probably see what they want to see, says, Jim Swanson, who teaches linguistics at Dakota State University. “If a gorilla makes a gesture, the trainers see a positive response that they were looking for.” Swanson said he once thought that Koko’s choppy responses were a novel form of self-expression, but now wants to see more proof.

Activist Gorilla
EnviroLink says the inter-species chat is being held to highlight the plight of gorillas and celebrate Earth Day. (AOL’s chat schedule this weekend also includes B-List celebrities like gymnast Kerri Strug, actor Larry Hagman and pro wrestling ring announcer Howard Finkel.) Koko will appear for only a half-hour because she has a short attention span.
    Knauer says the gorilla is concerned about the future of her species and wants to show people how to be more Earth-friendly. “We’re trying to educate people about what they can do for Earth Day and beyond,” he says. “If a gorilla can stand up and speak up about environmental issues, maybe normal people can do the same.”
    Koko’s other claim to fame is her artwork. The EnviroLink Network sells organic T-shirts sporting gorilla art of works like “Love,” “Bird,” and “Pink, Pink, Stink, Nice Drink,”
    Meanwhile, EnviroLink stands by their gorilla and plan to videotape Koko during the chat so her responses can be studied. The group wants to raise enough money to move Koko to a 70-acre compound in Hawaii, so she can mate and give birth to baby gorillas for use in zoos and future experimentation.

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