1978

Gorilla Foundation co-founder, vice president and photo-documentarian Dr. Ronald Cohn initially showed Koko how to use a camera with a tripod for the National Geographic article about Project Koko in 1978. But National Geographic liked the photo so much that they asked if Koko could learn to take the photo without the tripid (so they could see more of her) and use it on the cover of the magazine.

Koko learned quickly from Ron how to use the camera and knew exactly what she was doing when she pointed it at herself in the mirror. All Ron did was set up the lighting (in those days computer photo correction was not an option) and let Koko do her thing.

Note: National Geographic paid Koko a fee of $500 for her photo, as it was their policy to pay all "cover photographers."

Over the years, Dr. Cohn has taken thousands of extraordinary photos of Koko and other gorillas and eventually had an award-winning photo of his own appear on the Jan. 1985 cover of National Geographic — the photo of Koko cuddling her kitten: "Koko and All-Ball." — which (along with the story) changed the world's perspective about gorillas as "King Kong" forever.