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Have you ever seen or heard about the Snowflake gorilla? Such a creature that you have probably never seen before. This snowflake gorilla was brought to Barcelona Zoo in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1966 and he died in 2003. He was a male Western lowland gorilla. At that time, only the influential personalities of the city and the mayor of the city were allowed to see it. From this, you can understand how rare a creature this gorilla is on earth.
History
The Albino was caught on 1 October 1966, in the Río Muni region in Spanish Guinea by Benito Mañé, an ethnic Fang farmer. The farmer had killed all the gorillas in Albino’s group in order to capture him. The farmer was surprised to see that all the gorillas were in traditional colour, but one gorilla was white and he looked very attractive. And the farmer killed all the gorillas in his group to capture him. At last, Snowflake was found clinging to his dead mother. Later the farmer kept him at his home for four days before transferring him to Bata, where he sold him to a Primatologist, Jordi Sabater Pi.
Originally, the gorilla was named by his captor, ‘Nfumu Ngui’ which means white gorilla in the Fang language. Later, Jordi gave him a nickname, ‘Floquet de Neu’ which means little snowflake in Catalan language.
The farmer decided that he would hand over the gorilla to the zoo. So that he can be properly taken care of there. Then one day the snowflake (gorilla) was brought to Barcelona Zoo. Here he started living a comfortable life. He lived among 22 gorillas, none of whom were albino. In September 2003, when the zoo made a sensational announcement related to that gorilla, everyone was surprised. Zoo officials said he appeared white because he had skin cancer. Yes, the Snowflake who was popular to be known as a rare gorilla for a long time was suffering from a disease. It was shocking news for everyone.
Characteristics
This strange creature is an ‘Albino Snowflake Gorilla’. This gorilla looks completely different from others. While gorillas have black or red hair, this gorilla has white hair. Its skin also looks different from that of other gorillas. The skin of this gorilla is white and red.
Albino was a western lowland animal with non-syndromic oculocutaneous albinism. He had poor vision, some tests also done to determine whether he had a central blind spot did not find one.
A study of Snowflake’s genome says that his parents had 12% of their DNA in common, leading researchers to believe that his parents were uncle and niece. The same study determined that his albinism was caused by a mutation of the SLC45A2 gene. Albino received the recessive gene from both parents, causing his albinism.
Life at Barcelona Zoo
When he arrived in Barcelona in November 1966, he was given an official reception by the then-Josep Mariade Porcioles, a mayor of Barcelona and called Blancanieves (“Snow White”) in the newspaper Tele/Exprés. He became very popular, though, with the name given to him by Sabater when National Geographic featured him on the cover in March 1967, with the English name Snowflake. This name spread among the press. Sabater himself called the gorilla Floquet or Copi and in the later years Nfumu.
Offspring
Albino fathered 22 offspring by three different mates, or “dams”. Six of his offspring survived to adulthood. None of his offspring were albino, but all were recessive carriers, heterozygous, for the albino gene. Half of Albino’s grandchildren likely carry his gene. As of September 2021, Albino had a total of 21 grandchildren (11 survived) and eight great-grandchildren (all living). Albino’s great-grandson N’Kou has pink fingers, which is perhaps suggestive of partial albinism
Albino’s death
Albino resided in the Barcelona Zoo for 36 years before his death on November 24, 2003. Albino died due to skin cancer, a complication of his delicate skin’s sensitivity to the sun caused by his albinism. With optimal veterinary care, he battleThere are many creatures and species present on this earth and most are rarely seen. In such a situation, if these creatures suddenly appear in front of our eyes, we might be unable to tell their names. d the disease for 2 years before cancer overran his immune system. Barcelona and the world were devastated to lose the only albino gorilla to ever have been found. Remarkably enough, the albino lived to be about the average lifespan of a gorilla species.
Snowflake was the world’s only albino gorilla. Albinism is a medical condition where an animal cannot produce skin pigment. His most of life was spent at the Barcelona Zoo, among other gorillas but he was only white among them. By studying the blood of the Albino gorilla, it was found that his albinism was likely caused by inbreeding. The recessive gene would not be dominantly displayed unless there were a pair in each parent. Albino died in 2003 due to skin cancer, a complication of his albinism.
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