Snowflake

Copito de Nieve (Río Muni, Spanish Guinea, Spain, 1964-Barcelona Zoo, Barcelona, Spain, November 24, 2003) To date, he has been the only albino gorilla in the world that is known, although not the only primate. It was of the western gorilla species (Gorilla gorilla). The Spanish hunters, of Fang ethnic origin, who found it in the Nko jungle, called it Nfumu ngui (white gorilla). These hunters sold it to Professor Jordi Sabater Pi, then curator of the Ikunde Zoological Experimentation Center of the Barcelona City Council as a branch of the Barcelona Zoo, for around 15,000 pesetas. The professor moved him from his native Río Muni to Barcelona in 1966. He starred on the cover of National Geographic magazine in 1967, which gave him worldwide fame, becoming a symbol of the Barcelona Zoo and of the city itself.

History

Barcelona Zoo. In this box is the DNA of Snow Copito.

Copito de Nieve was captured in the Río Muni region (then it was the colony of Spanish Guinea, today Equatorial Guinea) on October 1, 1966 by Benito Mañé, a farmer from the Fang ethnic group. Mañé had killed the rest of Snowflake's group of gorillas (who were normal in color). Mañé kept Copito de Nieve in his house for four days before transporting him to Bata, where he was bought by the primatologist Jordi Sabater Pi.

He had 22 children, of whom 3 survive (one male and two females), 11 grandchildren (4 males and 7 females) and 3 great-grandchildren (1 male and 2 females). None of them were albino. He came to weigh 187 kg and measure 163 cm. He died on November 24, 2003 due to skin cancer that had caused him health problems since 1996, and which was clearly favored by his albino character. It is estimated that he was about 39 years old when he passed away.

Millions of letters have arrived at the Barcelona Zoo asking for the cloning of Snowflake, making it one of the most requested animals for cloning. This would be possible since the zoo keeps several DNA samples.

In popular culture

On December 23, 2011, the film Copito de Nieve was released, based on the story of this gorilla, with the voice of Kai Stroink. Directed by Andrés G. Schaer, with a script by Albert Val and Amèlia Mora, it stars Pere Ponce, Elsa Pataky, Claudia Abate Ortiz and Joan Sullà. In dubbing it was; in Argentinean Spanish she was Lorena Muñoz, in American English she was Ariana Grande.

In the movie Planet Of The Apes: War there is an albino gorilla named "Winter", a clear reference to Snowflake.