Koko, a western lowland gorilla¹ 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岁，她因学习用手语交流而闻名于世。

The Gorilla Foundation announced Koko's death, saying she would be “deeply missed”.

大猩猩基金会宣布了可可离世的消息，并表示人们会“非常想念”她。

“Koko touched the lives of millions as an ambassador for all gorillas² and an icon³ for interspecies communication and empathy,” the foundation said in a statement.

“作为所有大猩猩的使者，可可感动了数百万人，它还是物种间交流及共鸣的象征，”该基金会在一份声明中说道。

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.

可可于1971年7月4日出生于旧金山动物园。在她约12个月大的时候，斯坦福大学的学生弗朗辛·帕特森开始训练她使用手语。

Her handler claimed she learned to understand and use more than 1,000 different signs, although some scientists questioned the claim.

她的训练员表示她学会了理解并使用1000多种不同的手语，尽管一些科学家质疑了这一主张。

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，可可要求养一只猫咪，而她的愿望最终实现了。1985年在她生日那天，研究人员给她带来了一窝小猫，让她选一只饲养。

She met actor Robin⁴ 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.

大猩猩基金会网站上的一篇博文指出，2016年她遇见了演员罗宾·威廉姆斯，并与他建立了友谊，他们一起欢笑一起玩耍。当可可听说威廉姆斯先生离世的消息之后，她“非常伤心”，摆出了“哭泣”的姿势并低下了头。

Announcing Koko's death on Thursday, the organisation⁵ said it “will continue to honour Koko’s legacy⁶ with ongoing⁷ projects”.

星期四该组织宣布了可可离世的消息，并表示它“将继续通过进行中的项目来发扬可可的传统”。