October 14, 2025

Koko the Gorilla Who Raised Kittens as Her Own

The world knew Koko for sign language, but her tenderness made her unforgettable.

Some animal stories stay with you because they’re almost too human. Koko the gorilla was already famous worldwide for her extraordinary ability to communicate using sign language. She knew more than 1,000 signs in American Sign Language and understood over 2,000 spoken English words.

But it wasn’t just the vocabulary that made her special, it was the way she used it to express love.

In 1984, when Koko turned 12, her caretakers asked her what she wanted for her birthday. She didn’t ask for food or toys. She signed that she wanted a cat.

So the team brought her a litter of kittens. Koko carefully looked them over, then gently chose one. She cradled the tiny creature in her enormous hands, held it against her chest, and gave it a name in sign language: All Ball. Just because she thought the kitten looked like a ball.

From that moment on, All Ball was beyond a pet to Koko. She treated the kitten like her own child. She carried All Ball everywhere, tried to nurse the kitten, and fussed when the little one wandered off. When All Ball disappeared from her sight, she signed words like “cry” or “sad.”

The bond was tender and real, but it ended tragically. Just 6 months later, All Ball escaped the enclosure and was hit by a car. When her caretakers told her, Koko signed “bad, sad, frown, cry.” Then she let out a long, low sound that her caretakers described as weeping. It was grief any parent would recognize.

Koko’s story spread around the world. Photos of the gorilla cradling a tiny kitten melted hearts everywhere, and her response to loss made headlines. She was a creature who could love, mourn, and show compassion across species.

Over the years, Koko raised more kittens. She named them with the same creativity and affection she showed All Ball: Lipstick for a reddish coat that matched her caretaker’s makeup, Smoky for a silvery gray, Miss Black for dark fur. Each kitten became her baby, and she treated them with the same gentleness, carrying them, protecting them, and keeping them close.

Koko passed away in 2018 at the age of 46, one of the oldest gorillas in captivity. She will always be remembered not only for breaking barriers in communication but for her tender care of creatures much smaller than herself.

Her story reminds us that empathy isn’t a human invention. Sometimes it takes a gorilla with a kitten in her arms to show us how universal love really is.

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