Koko is the most celebrated gorilla in the world, and for good reason. She is the first gorilla that can use a human language. Dr. Penny Patterson has been her teacher since Koko's birth and is the director of The Gorilla Foundation in Woodside, California, where Koko now lives.

Robert Crane interviewed Koko, with Dr. Patterson acting as interpreter. He reports, "Koko, 15 years old and 230 pounds, sat poised and ready in her open-air living area. She looked me in the eye and, using American Sign Language, commanded, 'Show me your teeth,' which I respectfully did. She was delighted by the enormous amount of gold and silver in my mouth. Her mate, Michael, 13 and 350 pounds, who shares quarters with her, never looked me in the eye--something to do with the fact that I was a stranger and a male.

"Koko and Michael, who have an occasional spat, are, for the most part, nonaggressive. They are the subjects of an ongoing study by the foundation's research team. Both gorillas seem happy and, in Koko's case, willing to deal with media attention."

Q 1

PLAYBOY: Who are smarter, gorillas or humans?

Koko: Koko Devil. Gorilla Koko love good.

Q 2

PLAYBOY: What is the most fun to do?

Koko: Please eat. Please eat.

Q 3

PLAYBOY: What makes you happy?

Koko: [Slaps her chest] Gorilla Koko love good. Koko love good fake tooth. [Fake tooth is Koko's sign for a gold dental cap or crown.] Feel Devil know. Gorilla polite happy Koko.

Q 4

PLAYBOY: Do you think Michael is cute?

Koko: Cute [signed with two hands for emphasis equaling very cute] sweet good.

Q 5

PLAYBOY: What's better than bananas?

Koko: Corn.