THE ORIGINS OF “NFUMU NGUI”
On 1 October 1966, farmers shot a female gorilla that had been raiding their banana and coffee fields in Nkó, Rio Muni province, Equatorial Guinea (then Spanish Guinea).
They found a completely white infant still clinging to its dead mother.
Snowflake
One farmer, Benito Manié, took the baby home and named it Nfumu Ngui
, meaning “white gorilla” in the Fang language.
Four days later he handed the infant to Jordi Sabater Pi, the conservator at the Ikunde Centre at that time.
ITS DAYS ON IKUNDE
The white gorilla stayed at Ikunde for about a month while adapting to captivity and human care.
Jordi Sabater alerted Professor Arthur Riopelle, Director of the Delta Regional Primate Research Center in New Orleans, about the find.
Sabater had worked with Riopelle on field studies of the Rio Muni gorillas.
The infant adapted well to people and was transferred to Barcelona Zoo, arriving on 1 November 1966.
In December 1966 the zoo presented the young gorilla to the local press, without specifying a formal name.
WORLD FAME
In March 1967, Riopelle and Zahl published an article in National Geographic titled “Snowflake, the world’s first white gorilla”.
The name used by Riopelle and Zahl spread quickly.
The gorilla then became widely known as Snowflake, Copito de Nieve in Spanish, and Floquet de Neu in Catalan.
SNOWFLAKE IN BARCELONA
For the first 11 months in Barcelona, Snowflake lived in the family flat of the zoo veterinarian Dr Roman Luera i Carbó in the Eixample district.
His wife, Maria Gracia, cared for baby chimpanzees, gorillas, and other primates.
She became known at the zoo as Mama Gorilla
.
While with the Lueras, Snowflake went on holidays to Montseny and Menorca.
Over 36 years at Barcelona Zoo, Snowflake fathered 21 offspring with three females: 7 with Ndengue, 9 with Bimvili, and 5 with Yuma.
In 1999 his first two granddaughters were born: Nimba and Batanga.
THE ALBINISM OF SNOWFLAKE
Albinism results from a lack of melanin in the cells that give colour to skin and eyes.
Snowflake had a condition similar to human oculocutaneous albinism, subtype 1A, affecting skin and eye tissue and causing strong sensitivity to ultraviolet rays.
This trait is recessive and hereditary.
None of Snowflake’s mates were albino, so the chance of albino offspring remained low.
The Barcelona Zoo never aimed to breed albino gorillas and prioritised its work within the European conservation programme for the lowland gorilla.
GOODBYE TO THE MOST SPECIAL GORILLA
Snowflake died in 2003 from a serious skin condition.
Despite the efforts of vets and keepers, his illness worsened with age and finally proved fatal.