Washoe chimpanzee

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:
Washoe, 42, died on October 30, 2007 at the Chimpanzee and
Human Communications Institute, on the Central Washington University
campus in Ellensburg, Washington. Captured in Africa as a baby,
Washoe was raised by Allen and Beatrix Gardner of the University of
Nevada at Reno, 1966-1970. Beginning in 1967 they taught her
American Sign Language. Graduate student Roger Fouts and his wife
Deborah eventually took over and continued the project, first in
Oklahoma, then at Central Washing-ton University after 1980. Though
Washoe’s linguistic ability was disputed, she is generally
recognized as the first chimp to learn human linguistic skills,
developing a vocabuary of about 250 words. She went on to teach
American Sign Language to three other chimpanzees–Tatu, 31,
Loulis, 29, and Dar, 31, who all still live at the Chimpanzee and
Human Communications Institute.