Dear Friend,

I am encouraged that Koko has touched people all over the world. She taught the people of Earth about her noble species—how gorillas think, feel and communicate. About the challenges they face in the wild and in captivity. And she inspired us to help all of the great apes, and in the process to become better humans.

Koko left us with so very much: 46 years of interspecies communication data, many books on the shelves and many to be written; countless photos, videos and documentary footage; tropical sanctuary land in Hawaii; and prototype educational tools to help the world achieve conservation through communication.

With immense gratitude for what you've given, your help now means more than ever! The task at hand is to use these extraordinary resources to realize Koko's legacy through the following 5 special projects:

Koko's RoadMap to Conservation

1) The Kids4Koko Website
As a follow-on to the book A Wish for Koko, this site will teach kids about Koko's life, her language and art—and her importance to the world. Kids will learn to sign and paint like Koko, and to share their writing, art, feelings, and gorilla experiences in zoos and sanctuaries. They will also learn how they can help save gorillas from extinction.

2) Koko PSA Videos on Social Media
Koko is her own best spokesperson, and represents an ambassador for both her own and other endangered species. Because she can "speak" we can assemble her messages from video archives (thousands of hours) into public service announcements to publicize the need for "gorilla rights" (see example below).

3) The Koko App
This new (prototype) educational tool will enable Koko to teach her sign language to many people and gorillas around the world, thus creating interspecies empathy, giving gorillas a voice in their care, and making it possible for everyone to help us transcribe the Project Koko video archives (crowd-sourced research).

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4) More Koko & MIchael Books to Africa
The positive feedback we've received when shipping these empathy-building books to schools and communities in African gorilla-habitat countries, indicates both the demand and the potential. And when the Koko App is ready we will incorporate these books (and others) into the app as ebooks, so that the stories of gorillas communicating and empathizing with humans come to life.

5) Designing New Interactive Sanctuaries
We currently have two sanctuary sites that can be used to care for special-needs gorillas who are not well-suited to life in zoos or for repatriation to Africa. We have decades of experience learning how to optimize their care in captivity. In this project, we're exploring ways for zoos to provide a sanctuary experience for gorillas, while still allowing visitors to have an interactive experience.

Interspecies communication is a vital pathway to appreciating and protecting our vanishing great ape species. With your help, the above projects will unlock the many benefits of interspecies communication and build on Koko's foundation.

(and receive the children's book A Wish for Koko)

Thank you for bringing the Power of Koko to the world community.

Sincerely,

Dr. Penny Patterson
President, CEO and Research Director
The Gorilla Foundation (koko.org)

PS: When you donate $25 or more, you'll receive an eBook of the new children's book, A Wish for Koko, via email. Give $50 or more and you'll also receive a high-quality paperback book (optional). Thank you!

Conservation through Communication