Koko was born on the Fourth of July in 1971 in the San Francisco Zoo and named "Hannabi-Ko", which means "Fireworks Child" in Japanese.
When Koko was a little baby, she was sick and needed to be
separated from her mother. Soon she regained her health and
grew into a healthy 20 pound baby with all black fur save
for a white rump patch.
As a baby, Koko was cheerful and curious. She started to learn sign language before she was one year old!
