Koko, a western lowland gorilla who became internationally famous for learning to communicate in sign language, has died at the age of 46.
西部低地大猩猩可可去世了，享年46歲，她因學習用手語交流而聞名於世。
The Gorilla Foundation announced Koko's death, saying she would be “deeply missed”.
大猩猩基金會宣佈了可可離世的消息，並表示人們會“非常想念”她。
“Koko touched the lives of millions as an ambassador for all gorillas and an icon for interspecies communication and empathy,” the foundation said in a statement.
Koko was born on July 4, 1971 at the San Francisco Zoo. When she was about 12 months old, Stanford University student Francine Patterson started to train her to use sign language.
可可於1971年7月4日出生於舊金山動物園。在她約12個月大的時候，斯坦福大學的學生弗朗辛·帕特森開始訓練她使用手語。
Her handler claimed she learned to understand and use more than 1,000 different signs, although some scientists questioned the claim.
她的訓練員表示她學會了理解並使用1000多種不同的手語，儘管一些科學家質疑了這一主張。
In 1983, Koko asked for a cat — a wish that was eventually granted. For her birthday in 1985, researchers brought her a litter of kittens and let her choose one to keep.
1983年，可可要求養一隻貓咪，而她的願望最終實現了。1985年在她生日那天，研究人員給她帶來了一窩小貓，讓她選一隻飼養。
She met actor Robin Williams in 2016 and the two struck up a friendship, laughing and playing together. Koko heard about Mr Williams's death and became “extremely sad”, signing the word “cry” and bowing her head, according to a blog on the Gorilla Foundation website.
大猩猩基金會網站上的一篇博文指出，2016年她遇見了演員羅賓·威廉姆斯，並與他建立了友誼，他們一起歡笑一起玩耍。當可可聽說威廉姆斯先生離世的消息之後，她“非常傷心”，擺出了“哭泣”的姿勢並低下了頭。
Announcing Koko's death on Thursday, the organisation said it “will continue to honour Koko’s legacy with ongoing projects”.
星期四該組織宣佈了可可離世的消息，並表示它“將繼續通過進行中的項目來發揚可可的傳統”。
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