View source for Snowflake (gorilla)

{{Short description|Only known gorilla with albinism}}
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{{Infobox animal
| name                    = Snowflake
| image                   = Snowflake - Barcelona Zoo White Gorilla4.jpg
| image_upright           = 
| caption                 = Snowflake
| othername               = 
| species                 = [[Western lowland gorilla]]
| breed                   = 
| gender                  = Male
| birth_name              = 
| birth_date              = {{circa|1964}}
| birth_place             = [[Spanish Guinea]]
| death_date              = {{death date and age |2003|11|24 |1964 |mf=yes}}
| death_place             = [[Barcelona Zoo]], [[Barcelona]], [[Catalonia]], [[Spain]]
| resting_place           = 
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| nationality             = 
| occupation              = 
| employer                = 
| role                    = 
| years_active            = 1966–2003
| known_for               = Being the world's only known white gorilla
| tricks                  = 
| awards                  = 
| title                   = 
| term                    = 
| predecessor             = 
| successor               = 
| owner                   = 
| residence               = 
| parents                 = 
| namedafter              = 
}}
'''Snowflake''' ({{langx|ca|Floquet de Neu}}, {{langx|es|Copito de Nieve}}, {{langx|fr|Flocon de Neige}}; {{circa|1964}} – 24 November 2003) was a [[western lowland gorilla]] who is the world's only known [[Albinism|white]] [[gorilla]] to date.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081024184003/http://comunidad.lavanguardia.es/component/20081017/165811/adios-a-copito-de-nieve.xhtml Las crónicas sobre Copito en La Vanguardia].</ref> He was kept at [[Barcelona Zoo]] in [[Barcelona]], [[Catalonia]], [[Spain]], from 1966 until his death in 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthpicturegalleries/6338681/Albino-animals-from-Snowflake-the-white-gorilla-to-White-Diamond-the-alligator.html?image=1|title=Albino animals: from Snowflake the white gorilla to White Diamond the alligator|publisher=telegraph.co.uk|access-date=October 25, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026015910/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthpicturegalleries/6338681/Albino-animals-from-Snowflake-the-white-gorilla-to-White-Diamond-the-alligator.html?image=1|archive-date=October 26, 2014}}</ref><ref name="sorokanich">{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130618-albino-gorilla-inbreeding-genes-science/|title=Albino Gorilla Was Result of Inbreeding|last=Sorokanich|first=Lara|date=June 18, 2013|publisher=nationalgeographic.com|access-date=October 25, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709075136/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130618-albino-gorilla-inbreeding-genes-science/|archive-date=July 9, 2014}}</ref>

==History==
Snowflake was captured in the [[Río Muni]] region in [[Spanish Guinea]] on 1 October 1966 by Benito Mañé, a farmer of the [[Fang people]]. Mañé had killed the rest of Snowflake's gorilla group, who were all typically colored gorillas. Mañé then kept Snowflake at his home for four days before transporting him to [[Bata, Equatorial Guinea|Bata]], where he was purchased by [[primatologist]] [[Jordi Sabater Pi]].<ref>Riopelle, A.J., "Snowflake the world's first white gorilla", ''National Geographic'' 131: 442–8, March 1967</ref>

Originally named ''Nfumu Ngui'' in [[Fang language]] ("white gorilla") by his captor, he was then nicknamed ''Floquet de Neu'' ([[Catalan language|Catalan]] for "little snowflake"<ref>"The Name Is Snowflake", ''The Pittsburgh Post Gazette'', May 28, 1967</ref>) by his keeper, Jordi Sabater Pi.<ref>[http://mdc.cbuc.cat/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/sabaterpi&CISOPTR=341&REC=13 Sabater's pictures] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804110135/http://mdc.cbuc.cat/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=%2Fsabaterpi&CISOPTR=341&REC=13 |date=2009-08-04 }}, at the Sabater Pi Collection at the Universitat de Barcelona</ref><ref>"Little Snowflake, World's First White Gorilla", ''The Palm Beach Post'', February 22, 1967</ref>

==Characteristics==
Snowflake was a western lowland gorilla with non-syndromic [[oculocutaneous albinism]].<ref name=bmc130531/><ref>''International Wildlife Encyclopedia'' Vol. 20, Marshall Cavendish Corporation/New York, 1970, pg. 2710</ref><ref name=Duplaix-Hall>{{cite book | last=Duplaix-Hall| first=Nicole | author-link=Nicole Duplaix|author2=Antonio Jonch  | page=196 | chapter=The White Gorilla (Gorilla g. gorilla) At Barcelona Zoo | title= International Zoo Yearbook |volume=XIII| location=London | publisher=Zoological Society of London | year=1967 |oclc=604039131}}</ref> He had poor vision, though tests to determine whether he had a central blind spot did not find one.<ref>Riopelle, A.J., "Growing up with Snowflake", ''National Geographic'', 138:490–503, October 1970</ref> Barcelona Zoo director Antonio Jonch wrote: <blockquote>"The eye had a blueish [[sclera]], a normal [[cornea]], and a light blue [[iris (anatomy)|iris]] which was very transparent to transillumination. [[Accommodation (eye)|Accommodation]] and refraction were normal. The media were transparent and the [[Fundus (eye)|fundus]] of the eye normal and totally depigmented. The [[choroid]]al [[blood vessel|vessels]] were perfectly visible and the [[pupil]] was normal. The animal displayed marked [[photophobia]], which caused it to close its eyes repeatedly when exposed to bright light. In diffuse light similar to that in its [[biotope]], we calculated that it blinked on an average of 20 times a minute."<ref name=Duplaix-Hall/></blockquote>

Study of Snowflake's genome determined that his parents had 12% of their DNA in common, leading researchers to believe that his parents were uncle and niece. The same study revealed that his albinism was caused by a mutation of the ''[[SLC45A2]]'' gene. Snowflake received the [[recessive gene]] from both parents, causing his albinism.<ref name=bmc130531/><ref name=hp130617/>

==Life in Barcelona==
[[File:CopitoDeNieveGorilaAlbinoZooBarcelona.jpg|thumb|left|Snowflake resting in his enclosure]]
[[File:1993-Barcelona Zoo - Copito de Nieve.webm|thumb|Floquet de Neu (August 1993)]]

Upon his arrival to Barcelona in November 1966, he was given an official reception by the then-[[mayor of Barcelona]], [[Josep Maria de Porcioles]], and called ''Blancanieves'' ("[[Snow White]]") in the newspaper ''[[Tele/Exprés]]''.<ref>[http://www.anuaris.cat/continguts/article.php?id=2306 anuaris.cat] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014051136/http://www.anuaris.cat/continguts/article.php?id=2306 |date=2008-10-14 }}</ref> He became famous, 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 (''[[Stern (magazine)|Stern]]'', ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'', ''[[Paris-Match]]''). Sabater himself called the gorilla ''Copi'' or ''Floquet'', and in the later years ''Nfumu''. 

===Offspring===
Snowflake fathered 22 offspring by three different mates, or "dams". Six of his offspring survived to adulthood.<ref name="nigertimes">{{cite web|url=http://www.thenigertimes.com/2013/11/meet-snowflake-the-world-only-known-albino-gorilla.html|title=Meet Snowflake The World's Only Known Albino Gorilla|date=November 29, 2003|publisher=thenigertimes.com|access-date=October 25, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316142414/http://www.thenigertimes.com/2013/11/meet-snowflake-the-world-only-known-albino-gorilla.html|archive-date=March 16, 2015}}</ref> None of Snowflake's offspring were albino, but all should be heterozygous, recessive carriers, for the albino gene.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-22 |title=What Is An Albino Monkey, And How Rare Are They? - Technology Org |url=https://www.technology.org/2022/10/22/what-is-an-albino-monkey-and-how-rare-are-they/ |access-date=2022-12-11 |website=www.technology.org |language=en-US}}</ref> Half of his grandchildren likely carry the albino gene. If both parents were albino gene carriers, they have a 25% chance of producing an albino offspring and a 50% chance that the offspring will be a carrier of the gene.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-11-23 |title=Albinism |url=https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/albinism/ |access-date=2022-12-11 |website=nhs.uk |language=en}}</ref> 

As of September 2021, Snowflake had a total of 21 grandchildren (11 survived) and eight great-grandchildren (all living).<ref name=studbook/> Snowflake's great-grandson N'Kou has pink fingers, which is perhaps suggestive of partial albinism.{{Citation needed |date=June 2014}}

==Death==
In 2001, Snowflake was diagnosed with an unusual form of [[skin cancer]], almost certainly related to his albinism.<ref>{{cite news | author=Staff writers | title=Albino gorilla dying of skin cancer | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3128738.stm | work=BBC News | date=September 22, 2003 | access-date=June 1, 2013 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040607022035/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3128738.stm | archive-date=June 7, 2004 }}</ref> By 2003, Snowflake's health began to deteriorate. After he began losing interest in his usual activities, isolating himself from other gorillas and exhibiting signs of pain, Snowflake's keepers decided to [[animal euthanasia|euthanize]] him.<ref name=pbs>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/snowflake-the-white-gorilla-snowflakes-legacy/278/|title=Snowflake: The White Gorilla|date=9 June 2008|publisher=pbs.org|access-date=October 25, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026014239/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/snowflake-the-white-gorilla/snowflakes-legacy/278/|archive-date=October 26, 2014}}</ref> The decision was publicly announced in September 2003.<ref name="nigertimes"/> Thousands of people visited Snowflake at the Barcelona Zoo before he was euthanized on 24 November 2003. At the time of his death, Snowflake was thought to be between 38 and 40 years old.<ref name="nigertimes"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-25-fg-briefs25.3-story.html|title=Zoo Has Euthanized Ailing Albino Gorilla|date=November 25, 2003|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=October 25, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211144635/http://articles.latimes.com/2003/nov/25/world/fg-briefs25.3|archive-date=December 11, 2014}}</ref>

==Legacy==
{{More citations needed section |date=June 2014}}
[[File:Barcelona.Zoologico.Exposicion.Gorilas.CopitoDeNieve.jpg|thumb|A room dedicated to Snowflake]]

* The [[asteroid]] [[95962 Copito]], discovered by Spanish astronomer J. Manteca, is [[Meanings of asteroid names|named in his honour]].<ref>[http://www.manteka.com/copito/ "Asteroide Copito de Nieve"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070317090317/http://www.manteka.com/copito/ |date=2007-03-17 }}</ref>
* A scholarship for research on [[primatology]] was created in memory of and homage to Snowflake. Snowflake's fame also helped to promote awareness of the endangered gorilla species.<ref name=pbs/>
* An illustration and brief description of Snowflake (as of 1969) appears in the Italian children nonfiction book series ''Guarda e Scopri Gli Animali''.<ref>Mario Faustinelli and Rinaldo D. D'Ami: ''Guarda e Scopri Gli Animali'' Volume 11: ''Dell'Africa''. AMZ, Milano 1969.</ref>                                                                   
* The gorilla became a main character in the novel ''Memòries d'en Floquet de Neu'' ("Snowflake's Memories") by Catalan writer Toni Sala.
* Sabater Pi also dedicated a book to the gorilla, under the title ''Copito para Siempre'' (''Snowflake Forever'').
* He also makes a brief appearance in [[Italo Calvino]]'s novel ''Mr. Palomar'' – the passage is a meditation on loneliness, captivity, the burden of being unique in the world, and mortality.
* ''[[Nature (TV series)|Nature]]'' on [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] devoted an episode to him.
* Former U.S. Poet Laureate [[Billy Collins]] wrote of Snowflake in his poem, "Searching," published in his 2008 collection, ''Ballistics.''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2010/04/poetry-billy-collins-searching/38447|title=Poetry: Billy Collins, 'Searching'|last=Collins|first=Billy|date=October 2008|publisher=theatlantic.com|access-date=October 25, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026051556/http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2010/04/poetry-billy-collins-searching/38447/|archive-date=October 26, 2014}}</ref>
* Snowflake appears on the front cover of dance music act [[Basement Jaxx]]'s album ''[[Rooty]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=This is the original shot of a White gorilla called Copito (Snowflake) which then went on to form the main inspiration for the Rooty album artwork. |url=https://www.facebook.com/BasementJaxx/photos/this-is-the-original-shot-of-a-white-gorilla-called-copito-snowflake-which-then-/10150218294829956/?paipv=0&eav=AfZsB0_ro5-imXXbxyLJxbuu1LxbXiDUCG9wnzxjjb5kz2Nr2fjU4UHgEczevreDEOg&_rdr |website=Basement Jaxx's Official Facebook page |publisher=Basement Jaxx |access-date=27 May 2024 |date=8 August 2012 |quote="This is the original shot of a White gorilla called Copito (Snowflake) which then went on to form the main inspiration for the Rooty album artwork."}}</ref>
* While playing at [[FC Barcelona]], Dutch football player [[Ronald Koeman]] was nicknamed ''Copito de Nieve'' because of his blond hair.
* Snowflake appeared on ''[[The Triplets]]'' (Les Tres Bessones) episode "The Triplets meet King Kong" as a guest of honor for the appearance of [[King Kong]] in [[Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys|Barcelona's Olympic Stadium]].
* In 2009 French musician [[Enzo Enzo]] released the album ''Toutim'' where the song ''Copito De Nieve De Barcelone'' is dedicated to Snowflake.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://enzo-enzo.bandcamp.com/album/toutim-best-of|title=Enzo Enzo, Toutim (best of)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081103/https://enzo-enzo.bandcamp.com/album/toutim-best-of|archive-date=2016-03-04}}</ref>
* In 2011, there was a live action/CGI film called ''[[Snowflake, the White Gorilla]]'' that depicts the fictional childhood of Snowflake (voiced by Kai Stroink in the original Spanish version and by [[Ariana Grande]] in the English dub).

==Albino gorillas in other media==
<!--  why?  this is borderline encyclopedic, anyway   {{expand section|date=November 2017}} -->
Other albino (or white-furred) gorillas similar in appearance to Snowflake have appeared in different media.
* Prior to the birth of Snowflake, the film ''[[Son of Kong]]'' featured [[King Kong]]'s son, which was a white gorilla that was twice the height of a human and was named "Little Kong".
* In ''[[Legends of Chima]]'', the Gorilla Tribe member Grizzam has white fur similar to Snowflake.
* In ''[[Black Dynamite (TV series)]]'', there is a large white gorilla also named Nfumu by a member of the Fang people. The gorilla is colloquially known in the show as Honky Kong.
* A white-furred gorilla appears in the French superhero comic series ''[[Photonik]]'' (featuring in "African Devil"; Volume 1, ''Mustang'' #66, 1981),<ref>[http://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/photonik.htm Cool French Comics: ''Photonik'']. Retrieved July 20, 2018.</ref> serving as the totem for an evil shaman who wishes to rule all of Africa. As was the case with Snowflake, his entire group is killed by an unscrupulous poacher, and the white gorilla sold into captivity.
* In ''[[The Flash (2014 TV series)|The Flash]]'', [[Solovar]] was depicted as a white gorilla.
* In the ''[[Planet of the Apes franchise]]'', a white western lowland gorilla named Winter (voiced and motion-captured by [[Aleks Paunovic]]), appears in Caesar's tribe and defected to the Colonel's side out of fear.
* In the 2018 film ''[[Rampage (2018 film)|Rampage]]'' (which is based on the [[Rampage (franchise)|video game series of the same name]]), George (motion-captured by Jason Liles) is white in the movie adaptation to differentiate him from King Kong. [[Dwayne Johnson]] stated that George is based on Snowflake.
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', Uhk'loc is a rare tamable gorilla [[non-player character|NPC]] with a unique silver/white skin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://classic.wowhead.com/npc=6585/uhkloc#comments|title = Uhk'loc}}</ref>
* In [[Zoo Empire]], you can unlock the white gorilla as a species. There's also a program named Snowflake at the education center.

==See also==
* [[List of individual apes]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name=hp130617>{{cite news |last=Pappas |first=Stephanie |date=June 17, 2013 |title=Albino Gorilla 'Snowflake' Was Inbred, Gene Sequence Shows |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/17/albino-gorilla-snowflake-inbred-gene-sequence_n_3453137.html |newspaper=[[The Huffington Post]] |access-date=June 6, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606213731/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/17/albino-gorilla-snowflake-inbred-gene-sequence_n_3453137.html |archive-date=June 6, 2014 }}</ref>

<ref name=bmc130531>{{cite journal |author1=Javier Prado-Martinez |author2=Irene Hernando-Herraez |author3=Belen Lorente-Galdos |author4=Marc Dabad |author5=Oscar Ramirez |author6=Carlos Baeza-Delgado |author7=Carlos Morcillo-Suarez |author8=Can Alkan |author9=Fereydoun Hormozdiari |author10=Emanuele Raineri |author11=Jordi Estellé |author12=Marcos Fernandez-Callejo |author13=Mònica Valles |author14=Lars Ritscher |author15=Torsten Schöneberg |author16=Elisa de la Calle-Mustienes |author17=Sònia Casillas |author18=Raquel Rubio-Acero |author19=Marta Melé |author20=Johannes Engelken |author21=Mario Caceres |author22=Jose Luis Gomez-Skarmeta9 |author23=Marta Gut |author24=Jaume Bertranpetit |author25=Ivo G Gut |author26=Teresa Abello |author27=Evan E Eichler |author28=Ismael Mingarro |author29=Carles Lalueza-Fox |author30=Arcadi Navarro |author31=Tomas Marques-Bonet |date=May 31, 2013 |title=The genome sequencing of an albino western lowland gorilla reveals inbreeding in the wild |journal=[[BMC Genomics]] |volume=14 |doi=10.1186/1471-2164-14-363 |pages=363 |pmid=23721540 |pmc=3673836 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name=studbook>{{cite web |url=http://www.dewarwildlife.org/jrdavis-gorilla-studbook/0281.htm |title=0281 – SNOWFLAKE |last=Davis |first=James R. |date=June 1, 2014 |website=Dewar Wildlife |publisher=Dewar Wildlife Trust, Inc. |access-date=June 6, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606221540/http://www.dewarwildlife.org/jrdavis-gorilla-studbook/0281.htm |archive-date=June 6, 2014 }}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
* Riopelle, A.J., "Snowflake the world's first white gorilla", ''National Geographic'' 131:442-8, March 1967
* "Unique in all gorilladom: Roman Luera Carbo's Snowflake", ''Life'' 62:69–70, March 31, 1967
* Riopelle, A.J., "Growing up with Snowflake", ''National Geographic'' 138:490–503, October 1970
* Jonch, Antonio, "The White Gorilla (Gorilla g. gorilla) At Barcelona Zoo", ''International Zoo Yearbook'' Vol. XIII, 1967, pg. 196
* Schmeck, Harold M. Jr., "First Known White Gorilla Is Found", ''The New York Times'' F. 23 pgs. 1:5 & 41:2
* "Rare albino gorilla dies", ''The Montreal Gazette'', November 25, 2003, pg. A.21
* Gerritsen, Vivienne Baillie (August 2004) [http://web.expasy.org/spotlight/back_issues/049/ "Snowy stardom"]. ''Protein Spotlight '' (SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics).
* [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/snowflake-the-white-gorilla-colo-and-dotty/276/ pbs.org] ''Nature'' episode: "Snowflake: The White Gorilla" at [[PBS|PBS.org]]
* Tavella, Elizabeth (2023). "Reframing Whiteness in the Zoo: Snowflake the Gorilla in Modern Media". In Thurston-Torres, Jonathan W. (ed.). Animals and Race. 

{{Notable apes}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:2003 animal deaths]]
[[Category:Animal deaths by euthanasia]]
[[Category:Drug-related deaths in Spain]]
[[Category:History of Barcelona]]
[[Category:Individual albino animals]]
[[Category:Individual animals in Spain]]
[[Category:Individual gorillas]]
[[Category:Spanish Guinea]]