Rare Albino gorilla dies of skin cancer

BARCELONA: Snowflake, an extremely rare albino gorilla and the most popular resident of Barcelona Zoo, died of skin cancer early yesterday morning, zoo officials said.

The white gorilla’s health had deteriorated in recent days, and he was taken out of his public exhibition space last Wednesday, news reports said. Snowflake, or “Copito de Nieve” in Spanish, was taken to the zoo’s veterinary department for an autopsy. The gorilla was thought to be between 38 and 40 years old. The average life span in the wild is 25. 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. The gorilla’s wrinkly white face is on postcards all over the city. He was a main character in a novel and even had memoirs written in his name.