SNOWFLAKE
Albino Gorilla

Snowflake was found in central Africa in 1966.

Snowflake, or Copito de Nieve as he is called in Spanish, was the only one in the world of his kind. Unfortunately this was precisely what would shorten his life. With no pigmentation in his skin he was much more vulnerable to sunlight. This led to melanoma, the worst type of skin cancer.

Snowflake died at the age of 40 (which is about 80 in human terms).

In his 37 years at the Barcelona zoo, he fathered 22 offspring with three different females. None is albino.

Snowflake was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2001.

Died Nov. 24, 2003 at 6:40 AM.