Dear Friend,
In this video, Koko, at age 14, bonds with a new kitten that she named “Lips Lipstick” because of his red color. This footage was filmed in 1985 and shows Koko with her kitten in front of a mirror, as she checks out her own image while trying to hold the kitten.
Koko always loved cats. When she was a baby and being raised in a home attached to the zoo nursery, her caregiver couple also had a cat. It was through Koko’s relationships with kittens that she demonstrated both her maternal instincts and her capacity for interspecies love.
Through the years Koko had a number of kittens but she never forgot her first — All Ball — about whom the award-winning book “Koko’s Kitten” was written. In that book, Koko learned about love and loss, and she always became sad when she saw a photo that reminded her of her favorite tailless kitten.
Nevertheless, Koko wasn’t afraid to meet new kittens and begin the process all over again. One of her kittens, Smokey, lived to the age of 20, and her last 2 kittens, Ms Grey and Ms Black, are still alive, living with one of Koko’s former caregivers, who sends me regular updates on how their doing, via cell phone photos and videos.
Let Koko’s life be a lesson to all of us — to love generously and fearlessly, and with great empathy!
With Koko-Love,
Dr. Penny Patterson
President, CEO and Founder
The Gorilla Foundation / Koko.org
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