Michael was a male gorilla born in Cameroon in 1973 who learned over 600 signs of American Sign Language. He was brought to the United States at age three to live with Koko, another gorilla who taught him sign language. Michael enjoyed activities like painting, music, and television and seemed to behave much like a human child. He died in 2000 in Woodside, California.

2. Michael was born in Cameroon, Africa; in March 17, 1973, and died in April 19, 2000. was the first male 'talking' gorilla. He had a working vocabulary of over 600 signs in American Sign Language, taught to him by Koko, a female gorilla. Michael spent most of his life in Woodside, California.

3. Michael was a silverback gorilla whose parents were killed while he was still a baby. His handlers felt that using sign language, he was attempting to relate his mother's death at the hands of poachers. At the age of three he was brought to live with Koko at Stanford. Michael's favorite color was yellow, and his favorite TV shows were Sesame Street and Mister Rogers. He enjoyed listening to Luciano Pavarotti and looking at pictures. Michael also greatly enjoyed painting, and took it quite seriously, as opposed to Koko, who would paint for fun.

4. Michael seemed to behave much like a small child. Apple was Michael's pet dog, a very playful border collie. Michael seemed to love his dog, wish to take care of it, and often played with it. Apple died before Michael. Apple was also Michael's inspiration for his painting "Apple Chase".

5. http://www.koko.org/world/kokoflix.php?date=2008-06-24