Koko's Winning Gorilla Haiku

Yesterday we mentioned the haiku contest being held to celebrate the 40th birthday of Koko, the sign-language gorilla.

The Gorilla Foundation has now announced the winning haiku:

Get your stinking paws
Off me, you damned dirty ape
Signed, Charlton Heston

Just kidding, Koko! (But you have seen Planet of the Apes, right?) The real first prize went to Koko fan met314, who wrote:

Gentle lady ape
Nimble fingers share her thoughts
Teaching us to love

Awww.

Koko "helped select the winners," says the Gorilla Foundation, so no wonder she looks so good in the top entries. Like this third-place haiku:

Signing love polite
Koko's gifts of heart and mind
Change the world for good

Thank heavens someone's changing the world out there. We need all the help we can get.