Washoe the chimp has died – goodbye Washoe
November 1st, 2007 | by Mark Holah |
The famous research chimpanzee has died aged 42. She passed away last Tuesday night. She died in bed surrounded by staff members and other primates who had been close to her
Washoe was born and captured in West Africa, briefly used for research by the US Air Force, and finally adopted by psychologists Beatrix and R. Allen Gardner, who raised her in their home and treated her like a deaf human child.
She was then adopted by Roger and Deborah Fouts, the directors of Central Washington University’s Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute. In her lifetime, Washoe mastered the use of more than 250 signs and even taught them to another chimpanzee.
For more information visit www.friendsofwashoe.org
One Response to “Washoe the chimp has died – goodbye Washoe”
By Angry Lab Rat on Nov 7, 2007 | Reply
The only example, along with Koko the signing gorilla, of one species learning the language of another enough to converse. Yep, I’m willing to believe Mankind had been bested. So what were Washoe’s last words, I wonder? Maybe, “I’ve tried for 40 years to teach them, but stupid humans can’t learn one word in Chimpanzee.”
See my blog post on this at:
http://angrylabrat.blogspot.com/2007/11/goodbye-to-language-pioneer.html