World-famous Koko the gorilla got a box of kittens for her 44th birthday, and now a viral video shares the gorilla's enthusiasm for her new babies with the Internet.
"Koko has adopted these two kittens into her family, and it has energized her world," California's Gorilla Foundation said in the caption of the YouTube video.
At one point, Koko, who uses American Sign Language to communicate more than 1,000 words, signed that she wanted a kitten placed on her head. Upping the cuteness factor that elicited ooohs and ahhs from the Internet, Koko also cradled the kittens like babies.
"im a grown man and this brought a tear to my eye...," one person commented on the YouTube video.
These two new kittens aren't the first that Koko has adopted and loved. According to the organization's website, Koko got her first kitten when she was 12. Koko named the kitten All Ball, and signed the words for "cry," "sad," and "trouble" when All Ball was hit by a car and killed after just six months with the gorilla.
"The story of Koko and ALL BALL has been immortalized in the award-winning children's book Koko's Kitten, and has helped evoke empathy for great apes and great ape conservation world-wide," the Foundation said.
Other kittens grew up with Koko, like Smoky, which lived for 20 years with the gorilla.
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