A Conversation With Koko-- And now for something completely different -- the autobiography of a talking gorilla. Koko is a captive-born, western lowland gorilla, who has learned how to talk by learning over 1000 words in American Sign Language. Koko and Dr. Penny Patterson, Koko's teacher, caretaker, and interpreter, are science celebrities, who together have proven that intelligence, self-awareness, memory, and emotions are not the sole realm of 'human' animals.