Washoe passed away October 30, 2007She was 42 years old, on borrowed time as far as chimpanzees go. She lived out her final days in The Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute at Central Washington University.
Washoe was the first non-human to learn human sign language. She had a confirmed vocabulary of 250 signs. Washoe had to understand and use each word in the right context before it could be added to her list .
Washoe had an adopted son Loulis. She was able to teach him to sign also. Louis is the first chimp to learn to sign by other chimps, rather than by humans.
To read more about Washoe and other signing chimps, look here:
http://www.friendsofwashoe.org/
