by Meish Goldish

1305_COV_GORILLAS_PDF.indd 1 11/22/06 12:14:38 PM [Intentionally Left Blank] by Meish Goldish

Consultant: Rebecca Gullott Collection Manager, Mammals The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore

1305_Gorillas_PDF.indd 1 11/21/06 5:41:56 PM Credits Cover and Title Page, © Ken Lucas/Taxi/Getty Images; Cover (background), © Marilyn Nieves/ Istockphoto.com; 4, © Stephanie Sinclare/Chicago Tribune/NewsCom; 5, © Robert Allison/Contact Press Images; 6, © Dr. Ronald H. Cohn/Gorilla Foundation/Koko.org; 7, © Dr. Ronald H. Cohn/Gorilla Foundation/Koko.org; 8, © Dr. Ronald H. Cohn/Gorilla Foundation/Koko.org; 9T, © Dr. Ronald H. Cohn/ Gorilla Foundation/Koko.org; 9B, © Dr. Ronald H. Cohn/Gorilla Foundation/Koko.org; 10, © SHNS photo by Ron Cohn/Gorilla Foundation/Koko.org; 11, © Gorilla Foundation/Koko.org; 12, © Michael Pogany/ Columbus Zoo; 13, © Michael Pogany/Columbus Zoo; 14R, © Robert Campbell; 14L, © Yann Arthus- Bertrand/Peter Arnold, Inc.; 15, © Robert Campbell; 16, © Robert Campbell; 17, © Robert Campbell; 19, © Zigmund Leszczynski/Animals Animals - Earth Scenes; 20, © Thomas Breuer/ Wildlife Conservation; 21, © Thomas Breuer/ Wildlife Conservation; 22, © AP Images /Anjan Sundaram; 23, © William West/AFP/ Getty Images/NewsCom.com; 24, © Michael Pogany/Columbus Zoo; 25, © Michael Pogany/Columbus Zoo; 26, © Bruce Davidson/naturepl.com; 27, © Andrew Plumtree/Oxford Scientific; 28, © Steve Turner/ Photolibrary/Oxford Scientific; 29, © Sculpture by Ralph Brown/Nature In Art, UK.

Publisher: Kenn Goin Project Editor: Adam Siegel Creative Director: Spencer Brinker Photo Researcher: Beaura Kathy Ringrose Original Design: Dawn Beard Creative

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Goldish, Meish. Gorillas / by Meish Goldish. p. cm. — (Smart animals!) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN-13: 978-1-59716-369-9 (library binding) ISBN-10: 1-59716-369-4 (library binding) 1. Gorilla — Juvenile literature. I. Title.

QL737.P96G565 2007 599.884 — dc22 2006026657

Copyright © 2007 Bearport Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

For more information, write to Bearport Publishing Company, Inc., 101 Fifth Avenue, Suite 6R, New York, New York 10003. Printed in the United States of America.

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1305_Gorillas_PDF.indd 2 11/30/06 4:25:59 PM Contents

Gorilla to the Rescue ...... 4 Language Learner ...... 6 Koko’s Kitten ...... 8 Picture This ...... 10 Gorilla Feelings ...... 12 Watching in the Wild ...... 14 Sounds and Meanings ...... 16 Smart Games ...... 18 Using Tools ...... 20 Clever Cracking ...... 22 Learning by Watching ...... 24 Staying Alive ...... 26

Just the Facts ...... 28 More Smart Gorillas ...... 29 Glossary ...... 30 Bibliography ...... 31 Read More ...... 31 Learn More Online ...... 31 Index ...... 32 About the Author ...... 32

1305_Gorillas_PDF.indd 3 11/21/06 5:42:29 PM Gorilla to the Rescue Visitors at the Brookfield Zoo in Illinois watched with fear. A three-year-old boy lay unconscious at the bottom of the gorilla exhibit. He had fallen 18 feet (5 m) while trying to climb over the railing. Soon a gorilla named Binti Jua (BIN-tee JOO-ah) walked toward the boy. Would she attack him?

Gorillas belong to a group of animals called apes. Chimpanzees and orangutans are also smart animals in this group.

A Binti Jua 4

1305_Gorillas_PDF.indd 4 11/21/06 5:42:30 PM The gorilla surprised everyone. She gently scooped up the boy and carried him to a door where help waited. Binti Jua became famous for rescuing a human. She had acted like a loving mother. Her actions changed many people’s ideas about gorillas. They had thought of gorillas as savage beasts. Now they saw them as gentle, intelligent creatures.

A Binti Jua’s rescue of a three-year-old boy was captured on video. 5

1305_Gorillas_PDF.indd 5 11/30/06 4:28:07 PM Language Learner Binti Jua is just one of many gorillas that have shown people how smart they are. In 1971, Koko was born at the San Francisco Zoo. When she was a year old, Koko became the first gorilla to learn American Sign Language.

A Koko learns new words by having her hands moved into the positions that stand for the words. 6

1305_Gorillas_PDF.indd 6 11/21/06 5:43:41 PM The young gorilla was taught that different hand movements stand for different words. At first, Koko was only able to sign one word at a time, such as “drink,” “food,” or “more.” By age three, she was smart enough to sign sentences made up of three to six words. When she was thirsty, Koko signed, “Pour that hurry drink hurry.”

By age five, Koko could sign more than 200 words. A child who is two and a half years old knows about the same number of words.

A One of the fi rst words Koko learned to sign was “food.” 7

1305_Gorillas_PDF.indd 7 11/21/06 5:44:16 PM Index

Africa 14, 18, 20, 23, 26–27, 28 Jersey Zoo 29 All Ball 8 kitten 8 Baron Macombo 24–25, 26 Koko 6–7, 8–9, 10 Binti Jua 4–5, 6 Leah 20–21 Bongo 12–13 Michael 10–11 Bridgette 12–13 mountain gorillas 14–15, 18, 27, 28 chimpanzees 4, 10, 20, 22 orangutans 4 Colo 29 painting 10–11, 12 Columbus Zoo 12, 14, 29 Peanuts 15 communication 6–7, 8–9, 10, 16–17 playing 19 eastern lowland gorillas 18 poachers 26–27 Efi 21 problem-solving 24–25 emotions 8, 12–13 San Francisco Zoo 6 endangered species 27 sign language 6–7, 8–9, 10 Fossey (gorilla) 12–13, 14 silverback 19 Fossey, Dian 14–15, 16–17, 18 sounds 13, 14–15, 16–17 hunters 26–27 tools 20–21, 22–23 Itebero 22–23, 24 troop 19 Jambo 29 western lowland gorillas 18

About the Author Meish Goldish has written 32 more than 100 books for children.

1305_Gorillas_PDF.indd 32 11/21/06 5:57:32 PM [Intentionally Left Blank] Visitors at the zoo watched with fear. A three-year-old boy lay unconscious at the bottom of the gorilla exhibit. He had fallen in while trying to climb over the railing. Soon a gorilla named Binti Jua walked toward the boy. Would she attack or rescue the child? Look inside to find out how Binti Jua and other gorillas have amazed the world by saving human lives, using tools, painting pictures, and even learning sign language. Chimpanzees Crows Dogs Dolphins Elephants Gorillas Octopuses Parrots Pigs Sea Lions Wolves

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