Now these are kitten pictures

"Soft good cat cat."

Koko is a lowland gorilla who has been taught by scientists at Stanford University to communicate in sign language. In 1984 she asked her trainer, Dr. Francine Patterson, for a pet cat. Koko named the pet manx cat “All Ball” and cared for the kitten as if he were a baby gorilla. She would carry All Ball on her back and cuddle him, even dress the cat up in napkins. Three days after All Ball was hit by a car and killed, Dr. Patterson signed with Koko and this was her response:

Dr. Patterson: Do you want to talk about your kitty?
Koko: Cry.
Dr. Patterson: What happened to your kitty?
Koko: Sleep cat.
Dr. Patterson: Yes, he’s sleeping.

Koko surprised many researchers by exhibiting the very human emotion of grief. Since All Ball’s death, Koko has raised several other kittens, including “Lipstick” and “Smokey.”

I recognized Koko right away. So touching to see her with her kitty!

n/t

I also consider dogs and cats people.

:loveya:

I have heard about her and her cat before. I don't know why researchers were surprised to see KoKo grieve for All Ball.

about a gorilla who was grieving for her dead baby.

You'd be shocked at the number of people in denial that the gorilla was experiencing an emotion. No, it had to be some kind of programmed behavior, no "feelings" involved. Anyone who said otherwise was "anthropomorphizing."

Floored me. And horrified me. I hope those people never have a dog or a cat--or a child, for that matter, there's some pretty basic mammalian "instinctual" behavior on display there.

Gorillas will carry a baby around for days. I saw a show where some researchers tried to remove a dead chimp (bonobo?) from a zoo habitat and were attached by the other chimps.

Animals feel emotions? Duh.

...and inner lives.

Kind of the opposite of progressive, isn't it, to fight so hard against empathy?

especially for primate researchers. You don't exactly need a large cerebral cortex to feel loss and grief. All you need is a functioning limbic system.

Certainly love and joy factor into the equation too.

thank you...

I felt myself tearing up when Koko cried. ;(

I think animals should take over the world, we humans seemed to have phucked it up.