Beyond 5000 on Instagram: "Koko, born in 1971, was a western lowland gorilla who became famous for communicating through a modified form of American Sign Language. Taught by Dr. Penny Patterson, she learned over 1,000 signs and understood thousands of spoken words, showing remarkable emotional intelligence. Koko died peacefully in her sleep on June 19, 2018, at age 46. A widely shared video of her signing a message about protecting nature was later clarified as a scripted awareness video, not he