Michael (Gorilla)

Hearing. Born and captured in Cameroon and brought to the Viennese Zoo in Austria. At age 3, was sent to The Gorilla Foundation in California to become the mate of Koko (q.v.). Michael learned American Sign Language both from his handlers and from Koko herself, developing a vocabulary of about 600 signs. However, it eventually became apparent that the two gorillas had developed a sibling relationship instead of a mating one. In 1991 another male gorilla, Ndume, was brought in to become Koko's mate, although Ndume apparently had not learned any signs as of 2000. Michael died suddenly at his home with symptoms similar to those of a heart attack in humans.