Ronald Cohn, who died September 16, 2022, aged 78, was an American zoologist who was a long-time research collaborator of psychologist Francine Patterson in her work in training Koko the gorilla in the use of American sign language. He documented much of Koko's life on film and on camera, and is credited as the illustrator for the children's books Koko's Kitten, Koko-Love!: Conversations With a Signing Gorilla, and Koko's Story. One of his photos of Koko was featured on the cover of National Geographic in 1978 and 1985.

We are sad to share that Dr. Ron Cohn, our co-founder and photo/video-grapher, passed away at home on Friday September 16th, 2022. He will be deeply missed and remembered for his outstanding images of gorillas that captured the hearts of so many. With Ron’s popular National Geographic covers, Koko’s gentleness and empathy were perfectly captured. These covers, and decades of other photos and videos taken by Ron, helped change people’s preconceptions about gorillas. The gorillas loved and respected Ron as a lifelong father figure. He will be missed by all of us, but his positive impact on the world will live forever.

https://www.koko.org/ron-cohn/