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REDWOOD CITY, California—

Many famous individuals have been publicly sharing their greatest memories of Robin Williams, displaying the profound gift of joy that he brought to so many people. However, one of the tributes to his memory that is gaining a lot of attention is not from another person, but from an ape.

koko_remembers
According to The Gorilla Foundation, Koko the Gorilla mourned on the day of Robin Williams’ passing. Williams met Koko in 2001.
Courtesy:
The Gorilla Foundation

According to The Gorilla Foundation in Redwood City, Robin Williams was invited to meet Koko, the gorilla who communicates in American sign language, back in 2001, and the two hit it off quite well. They released the video of the two of them meeting to honor his memory.

On Monday when the news of Williams’ passing broke, Koko was with Dr. Penny Patterson and Dr. Ronald Cohn. According to the release, Koko came to Dr. Patterson with an inquiring look on her face, and Dr. Patterson said, “We have lost a dear friend, Robin Williams.”

Koko went quiet and went to sit alone. At the end of the day, Koko became very somber, with her head bowed and her lip quivering.

In the video below, Robin Williams met Koko the gorilla and made her smile— something she hadn’t done for over 6 months. Koko was mourning her lifelong gorilla companion, Michael, who had passed away at the age of 27.

In the video you can see Koko identify Williams from a movie of his she watched, after putting his glasses on her face. The two got into a very competitive tickle fight as well.

Greg Cotta filed this report.