How did the albino gorilla from the Barcelona Zoo live? Snowball is the world's only albino gorilla.
Ecology
Albinism - a congenital disorder in the body of a person or animal that deprives their skin, hair, fur and eyes of color due to the lack of melanin pigment. Albinos are very pale, they are not advised to sunbathe, and they also suffer more often from various skin diseases than all other “non-albinos”.
Lack of pigmentation can cause problems in the eyes, which is why albino people often wear special corrective lenses.
Albino animals in the wild experience serious difficulties because white color makes them more visible to predators. They suffer from visual impairment and other diseases, and they should also not be exposed to the sun.
The luckiest albinos born in captivity, since in zoos they are given the necessary care and protection. Learn about famous and little-known albinos in the animal kingdom.
White gorilla
Snowball
Gorilla Snowball arrived in Barcelona Zoo, immediately becoming a local star. She was caught by a farmer in Equatorial Guinea under tragic circumstances. He killed all the gorillas in her group just to catch Snowball.
Gorilla named Snowball during a meal
Gorilla visited many owners before I found myself in Barcelona Zoo, where her life became calm and comfortable. Snowball became a father 22 kids, neither of whom inherited his albinism.
Snowball died of cancer at the age of 37
In September 2003 It was announced that Snezhn had been diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer, which was most likely caused by his albinism. Thousands of visitors flocked to the zoo for a month to see this unique animal one last time before it was put down.
Albino crocodile
Claude
Alligator Claude perhaps the most famous resident California Academy of Sciences. He was born in captivity in Florida and then moved to California, where he lives in a terrarium with a pond.
Alligator Claude does not feel like a black sheep in his terrarium
For several years, Claude shared space with another alligator named Bonnie, however, the latter was later sent away, since Claude, having poor eyesight, constantly bumped into objects, as well as Bonnie, who periodically bit him for this.
Not long ago, the Academy invited the public to celebrate Claude's 15th birthday. A song was sung in his honor "Happy Birthday" and were fed delicious crocodile food.
Another albino crocodile lives at the Arizona Zoo
Amazing white penguin
Snowdrop
It may seem that white penguins there must be a lot, since they live in completely white snowy environment. This would help them camouflage better. However, nature has its own rules, and white penguins are very rare.
He's definitely not like everyone else
The penguin, nicknamed Snowdrop, was one of the few known albino penguins who lived to adulthood. He was born in Bristol Zoo and was accepted by his relatives without any problems.
Unfortunately, the penguin lived only 2 years and died suddenly in August 2004
White koala
Oniya Birri
This rare white koala was born in 1997 V San Diego Zoo. The animal got a name Oniya Birri, which means "Ghost Boy" in the Australian Aboriginal language. The little koala spent the first six months of his life in his mother’s pouch, and when it was time to get out, surprised the staff and visitors of the zoo a lot.
Albino koala Onia Birri
Although albino koalas are likely born in the wild, Onia Birri is the only white koala known to science.
Albino white whales
Migalu
Migalu is an albino humpback whale that is well known to Australians. He swims regularly east coast of Australia during the migration season.
Migalu was first noticed in 1991, since then not a single white humpback whale has been seen again. Since then, he has been spotted every year, and animal lovers have dedicated a website to him.
The white whale Migalu splashes somewhere off the coast of Australia
Mocha Dick
Mocha Dick- another famous white whale. This ferocious beast was well known in 19th century whalers and even inspired Herman Melville write a novel "Moby Dick, or the White Whale."
Death fight with a giant white whale
Mocha was an albino sperm whale who managed to survive despite more than a hundred meetings with whalers until he finally killed in 1838. If not provoked, Mocha behaved quite calmly, but became very aggressive when attacked, using his gigantic body to overturn and smash ships.
Installation by artist Tristin Lowe "Mocha Dick", Philadelphia
Pink dolphin
Pinky
In 2007 a ship captain from Louisiana noticed pink dolphin swimming with a small company of other bottlenose dolphins in the brackish waters Lake Kalkasi north of Gulf of Mexico.
Next to other dolphins, Pinky looks more than strange
Nicknamed Pinky the dolphin had a color unusual for dolphins of this species. His skin and eyes were pink. Pinky turned out to be an albino, which is also quite rare. In fact, among dolphins there are white species, for example, Amazonian dolphin. Representatives of this species have white skin, but they are not albinos.
Pinky has her own Facebook page and many fans.
White peacocks
Peacocks are probably the most beautiful birds on the planet thanks to its incredible colorful feathers. However, if the color is replaced with pure white, the peacock also does not lose its charm.
Partially white peacock: unusual color
White peacocks are quite common and can be found in many zoos. They are often used as decorations for wedding ceremonies, where they symbolize brides.
White peacock showing off its feathers
White peacocks technically not albinos, they do not lack pigment, but have some genetic variations.
White snail
Meet unusual giant white snail in New Zealand was a big surprise for researchers. Experts in the field of these gastropods say that the snail is about 10 years– this is a fairly old age, considering how noticeable this unusual animal is in nature.
Albino snail caught in New Zealand
This is a creature of a group of predatory snails Powelliphanta Usually black in color, it is especially incredible to encounter an albino.
Albino python
This python does not have the characteristic coloring that is genetically characteristic of its relatives. Physically this beast not particularly different from other pythons of its species, except that it has an unusual white and pink color.
Female albino python Ruby
Albino frog
frog species Lithobates pipiens called leopard frog for her spots on her back, similar to those of a leopard. However, you will not see these spots on this representative because she is an albino. Such frogs are very rare, especially considering that leopard frogs themselves are becoming increasingly rare in nature.
The rarest of the rare frogs of the species Lithobates pipiens
Albino white squirrel
Not all white squirrels are albinos. Those who have dark eyes have recessive gene, which is inherited in eastern gray squirrels. However, if a white squirrel turns out to have pink or red eyes- This is a sign that the animal is an albino. Her body does not produce the pigment necessary to color her fur, skin and eyes.
Albino squirrel with red eyes
White squirrel with black eyes
Rare white kangaroos
It is quite difficult to determine what coat color newborn kangaroos will have. When they are born, they are completely bald, and they only have hair. in 5 months. Albino kangaroos are very rare, but they sometimes appear in zoos.
Mother kangaroo with white albino baby
White hedgehog
Meeting a hedgehog in the forest is sometimes quite difficult, but meeting a white hedgehog is doubly unlikely. These wonderful creatures are bred for scientific purposes and also sold as pets.
White urchins cost hundreds of dollars
Albino ferrets
Ferrets from the family mustelids often kept as pets. They come in different colors: black, brown, multi-colored. Albino white ferrets are also incredibly popular. White ferrets are bred for their unusual red eye color. If white ferrets have dark eyes, they are not albino.
Albino domestic white ferret
White turtles
Red-eared freshwater turtle - Trachemys scripta elegans, as the name suggests, has red spots in the ear area. However, this white albino turtle has lost some of its characteristic coloring.
Usually these turtles have a beautiful brown-green coloration, but albinos are yellow
Another albino turtle among its relatives
White lion
Interesting white lions can be found in the wild in South Africa, however they are not albinos. This is a rare color mutation in the subspecies Kruger's lion(lat. Panthera leo krugeri).
Common and white lionesses quench their thirst
White lions spotted for the first time in South Africa in the 1930s, they have since spread to zoos around the world. Today, most white lions live in captivity.
White lion cubs with white lion father on vacation
White giraffes
Scientists working in Tanzania have learned for the first time that white giraffes exist. in 1993. White giraffes are not albino and have characteristic light brown spots on a white background.
White giraffe with a relative of the usual color
Albino white crow
Turns out, white crows are not a fiction at all, they actually exist and look completely different from their black relatives. Due to the white color of their feathers, white crows do not live long, as they very noticeable to a predator.
White crows are quite a reality
Expression "white crow", denoting a person with a completely unusual value system and standing out from others, was first noticed in the works of the Roman poet Juvenal. It has become winged and is used today, however in many European languages instead "white crow" speak an idiom "black sheep", which is also symbolic, since it is very unusual to see a black sheep among white ones.
Not like everyone else
Snowball(in Russian sources there is also the option Snowflake, Spanish Copito de Nieve, cat. Floquet de Neu; OK. 1964 - November 24, 2003) - the only albino gorilla (male) known in the history of zoological observations, who lived for many years in the zoo of the Spanish city of Barcelona.
Snowball was a member of the subspecies of western lowland gorilla. According to the official version, he was caught in Spanish Guinea in 1966 and then sold to Barcelona. Initially, in the Fang language spoken by the hunter who caught the gorilla, he was named Nfumu Ngui ( Nfumu Ngui), which literally means "White Gorilla". The acquisition of the animal cost the zoo 15,000 pesetas, which, according to some sources, makes Snowball the most expensive animal ever acquired by any institution. When captured, his age was estimated to be approximately two years. Within a short period of time, Snowball became widely known not only in Spain, but throughout the Western world: his image was printed on postcards and guidebooks, he became the unofficial mascot of the Barcelona Zoo, and several documentaries were made about him.
Snowball had a total of 21 offspring from three different females, but none of his offspring were albino. Snowball's albinism is believed to be due to inbreeding. At the end of 1980, scientists from the London Zoo began collecting sperm from Snowball for artificial insemination of females in order to study the possibility of giving birth to albino cubs, but the experiment ended in failure. Beginning in 2001, Snowball suffered from an unusual form of skin cancer, which was likely related to his albinism. He was euthanized in November 2003, having lived about 40 years (on average, gorillas live 30-50 years).
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- - August 2004(English)
Excerpt characterizing Snowball (gorilla)
When the pit was already completely filled up, a command was heard. Pierre was taken to his place, and the French troops, standing in front on both sides of the pillar, made a half turn and began to walk past the pillar with measured steps. Twenty-four riflemen with unloaded guns, standing in the middle of the circle, ran to their places while the companies passed by them.Pierre now looked with meaningless eyes at these shooters, who ran out of the circle in pairs. All but one joined the companies. A young soldier with a deathly pale face, in a shako that had fallen back, having lowered his gun, was still standing opposite the pit in the place from which he had fired. He staggered like a drunk, taking several steps forward and backward to support his falling body. An old soldier, a non-commissioned officer, ran out of the ranks and, grabbing the young soldier by the shoulder, dragged him into the company. The crowd of Russians and French began to disperse. Everyone walked in silence, with their heads bowed.
“Ca leur apprendra a incendier, [This will teach them to set fire.],” said one of the French. Pierre looked back at the speaker and saw that it was a soldier who wanted to console himself with something about what had been done, but could not. Without finishing what he started, he waved his hand and walked away.
After the execution, Pierre was separated from the other defendants and left alone in a small, ruined and polluted church.
Before evening, a guard non-commissioned officer with two soldiers entered the church and announced to Pierre that he had been forgiven and was now entering the barracks of prisoners of war. Not understanding what they told him, Pierre got up and went with the soldiers. He was led to booths built at the top of a field of charred boards, logs and planks and led into one of them. In the darkness, about twenty different people surrounded Pierre. Pierre looked at them, not understanding who these people were, why they were and what they wanted from him. He heard the words that were spoken to him, but did not draw any conclusion or application from them: he did not understand their meaning. He himself answered what was asked of him, but did not understand who was listening to him and how his answers would be understood. He looked at the faces and figures, and they all seemed equally meaningless to him.
From the moment Pierre saw this terrible murder committed by people who did not want to do it, it was as if the spring on which everything was held and seemed alive was suddenly pulled out in his soul, and everything fell into a heap of meaningless rubbish. In him, although he was not aware of it, faith in the good order of the world, in humanity, in his soul, and in God was destroyed. Pierre had experienced this state before, but never with such force as now. Previously, when such doubts were found on Pierre, these doubts had their source in his own guilt. And in the very depths of his soul Pierre then felt that from that despair and those doubts there was salvation in himself. But now he felt that it was not his fault that the world had collapsed in his eyes and that only meaningless ruins remained. He felt that returning to faith in life was not in his power.
People stood around him in the darkness: it was true that something really interested them in him. They told him something, asked him about something, then took him somewhere, and he finally found himself in the corner of the booth next to some people, talking from different sides, laughing.
The photo shows the famous white gorilla from the Barcelona Zoo named Snowball (Copito de Nieve in Spanish). This amazing creature is the only albino gorilla (male) in the history of zoology, belonging to the western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla).
It must be said that partial or complete albinism in nature is not such an incredible thing. A baby deprived of pigment is born one in 10,000 in most mammals, and even more often in cetaceans. For example, an albino killer whale is found approximately one in 1000. But although in zoos around the world such cubs are worn like crazy (just remember the white Bengal tigers in the Moscow Zoo), there is no reason to rejoice at “snow whites” in nature.
It is extremely difficult to meet an albino in the wild, and not only because of dry and ruthless statistics. Imagine that in a world where so much depends on how well you are camouflaged and how carefully you hunt, you have the burden of being pure white. You can be seen at night, you stand out from the pack, and as a hunter in an ambush you are absolutely untenable. The list goes on and on. And even if you are lucky and you occupy a niche in which all these disadvantages are somehow leveled out, there are a number of physiological problems associated with albinism.
Complete albinism implies the absence of pigment, which cannot but affect, for example, the eyes. It is no coincidence that albinos have a blood-red look: their retina is devoid of melanin (although it was later discovered that this pigment was partially present in Snowball’s retina), which also protects the eyes. Therefore, from the very first days at the zoo, it was necessary to monitor the light regime: too bright lighting could simply blind the poor thing.
The absence of melanin also does not benefit the skin: it becomes unprotected from the particularly dangerous ultraviolet part of the light spectrum. Despite all the care of veterinarians and other zoo workers, in 2001, at the age of approximately 37, Snowball developed skin cancer, and two years later the decision was made to euthanize him.
The genetic basis of albinism in everyone's favorite animal has long remained an intriguing mystery. Snowball showed all the signs of typical human oculocutaneous albinism: white hair (fur), pink skin, blue eyes and characteristic vision defects. However, no nucleotide substitutions were found in the coding region of the tyrosinase (TYR) gene, mutations in which cause most types of albinism typical for humans, even despite the complete absence of tyrosinase activity.
Research involving sequencing of Snowball's genome ten years after his death has shed light on the mystery. Among all the nonsynonymous substitutions found, 20 were in genes associated with oculocutaneous albinism, including one in the exon of the SLC45A2 gene (also known as MATP - membrane-associated transporter protein), which leads to oculocutaneous albinism type 4, found in Japan and extremely rare in the rest of the world. In addition, most likely, Snowball received the unfortunate alleles as a result of inbreeding, and in the “niece (nephew) - uncle (aunt)” pair, which was shown using computer calculations.
Enough about the sad stuff. Let's return to the story of Snowball itself, the famous part of which began at the Barcelona Zoo in 1966. After the zoo bought the little albino from the hunter who found him in Spanish Guinea, Snowball became the center of everyone's attention, and as soon as he was shown to visitors, he became a world star.
Since by nature gorillas are social animals, the need for a family has become one of the main ones when away from home. And he found a family in veterinarian Roman Luera and his wife Maria. Having practically become a mother to Snowball, she spent a lot of time with him and often caught herself thinking that she did not perceive him as a baby gorilla. In her mind, this was an ordinary child, with whom she interacted in the same way as with any other. The baby played hide and seek and cried when his adoptive “mother” jokingly said that she did not love him. Maria introduced him to different foods and even admitted that she spoiled Snowball with Coca-Cola.
For almost 40 years at the Barcelona Zoo, Snowball has become a universal and world favorite. The memory of him still lives on. He has repeatedly become the hero of literary and cinematic works, including the main character of the novel “Snowflake's Memories” by the Catalan writer Toni Sala. The asteroid Copito is even named after the white gorilla.
In the wild, albino animals, photos of which are striking in their unusualness, turn out to be rare individuals. It is difficult for them to survive because albinism is a defect. Such an individual can become a victim of its enemy in its natural habitat.
Albinism in the animal world
Albinism refers to the absence of a specific pigment or animal that results in white hair, white skin and red eyes. In plants, albinism manifests itself in the partial or complete loss of chlorophyll pigments and incomplete differentiation of chloroplast membranes. This feature interferes with photosynthesis, and albino plants are less tenacious.
Albinism can be artificial - such animals are specially bred in laboratory conditions for scientific experiments or to be used as pets. It is often noted that albino animals are not the best choice for scientific observations because their development is affected by the effects of albinism. In amphibians, this feature creates transparent skin, which allows tissue to be observed as the limbs regenerate.
There are several species of animals whose albino individuals are popular as pets:
Albino deer are a unique phenomenon for wildlife. Now there are about 300 of these animals in the world that live on a closed farm in the US state of Texas, near the city of Carson. It is located on the territory of a former military base, surrounded by a fence. Rare people get the opportunity to visit a farm and admire the white deer. They have this color because of a recessive gene that suppresses all colors except white.
A population of albino dolphins lives in the Pearl River, on which Macau and Hong Kong lie. Research has shown that the population includes 140 white individuals. Albino dolphins are somewhat superior to their counterparts and reach sizes of up to 3.5 meters. There is an exhibition with a live white dolphin in Hong Kong.
Albino dolphins are not only spotted off the coast of China. In the fall of 2015, a white dolphin was seen next to its gray brother off the coast of California. A few years earlier, a baby of this marine mammal was observed off the coast of Brazil. The white baby was swimming next to an adult gray dolphin, probably its mother.
Despite their beauty, albinos of this species rarely survive. They become easier prey for predators and also die more easily from immune diseases.
Squirrels are found in Eurasia, Africa and the Americas. And in different parts of the world you can find albinos among them. Such proteins are very rare, and there are about 220 of them in the world.
The whale is the largest mammal on our planet. Among the forty species of whales, there are also albinos. They are mainly found in arctic and subarctic waters. The body of these unique creatures cannot tolerate hot temperatures. The exact number of albino whales is unknown.
Among African lions, sometimes there are white-cream colored individuals. According to scientists, there are about 550 such predators in the world, most of which live in zoos and serve as their main decoration. White tigers are found in the jungle along with their normal-colored counterparts. Albino tigers grow faster than their counterparts.
In California, an albino alligator named Claude lives in a terrarium. Due to his mutation, he is partially blind. The alligator was born in 1995 in Florida. California biologists believe it would not survive in the wild. There are several crocodiles and alligators living in terrariums around the world that are albino.
There are also white crocodiles in the wild that are not albino because their color is associated with leucism, a mutation that causes partial loss of skin pigmentation.
Snowball is the only albino gorilla in the history of biological observations. He belonged to the species of western lowland gorilla. Snowball was born in 1964. In 1966, he was captured in the Rio Muni region of Equatorial Guinea. The farmer killed the rest of the troop of gorillas and captured little Snowball. A few days later, the farmer took his find to Bata, where he sold it to primatologist Jordi Sabater Pi.
The animal was sent to Spain, where it became a decoration of the Barcelona Zoo. The white gorilla is nicknamed "Floquet de Neu", which translates from Catalan as "Snowball".
The acquisition of the white gorilla cost the zoo a tidy sum and became one of the most expensive acquisitions in the history of zoos. But the Snowball became the symbol of the Barcelona Zoo. In March 1967, a photograph of the animal graced the cover of National Geographic magazine, where the gorilla was named “Snowflake”. The albino animal became known under this name.
At first, the zoo management did not appreciate the uniqueness of the acquisition. They wrote to Sabater: “Please send more white gorillas.” Later they tried to breed an albino species. According to a special protocol, Snowball's genetic material was preserved and frozen, in the hope that in the future it will be possible to breed new albino gorillas.
Over the course of his life, Snowball sired at least 22 cubs (from different females), and the number of his grandchildren reached 40. None of them inherited Snowball's unique coat color.
In 2001, the gorilla was diagnosed with skin cancer. This disease, which often affects albinos, had never been diagnosed in gorillas before. In 2003, Snowball was euthanized.
He was depicted on postcards, and documentaries were made about the male gorilla. The news of his euthanasia made news around the world.
Research at the Barcelona Zoo showed that the gorilla had poor vision and the visual impairment was associated with albinism. According to geneticists, Snowball's parents were uncle and niece. The cub received recessive genes from both parents, which led to albinism.
Many albino animals, the published photographs of which are fascinating, could not survive in the wild. The price of their unique appearance is general weakness of the body, poor eyesight and the possibility of becoming a victim of natural enemies. This, together with their unusual beauty, makes them unique and forces scientists to look for ways to save albinos.
Albino gorilla
The Barcelona Zoo contains the world's only albino monkey - an impressive male gorilla from Central Africa. Palomar pushes through the crowd gathered in the pavilion. Behind the glass he sees Copito de Nieve - Snowflake, a mountain of meat, all overgrown with milky white wool. Sitting by the partition, the monkey sunbathes. The gorilla's face is pinkish, like that of humans, furrowed with wrinkles; smooth and pink, just like a person of the white race, skin on the chest. This face with the huge features of a mournful giant at times turns to the crowd standing less than a meter on the other side of the glass, a leisurely look, imbued with despair, patience and longing, a look that speaks of how deeply the giant has come to terms with the fact that he is, as it is, the only example in the world of an unchosen, unlovable form, about how painful it is to be an exception, how it suffers from being so bulky, so noticeable and taking up so much space for so long.
Through the glass one can see a pen with a high stone fence, giving it the appearance of a prison yard; in fact, this is the “garden” of the cage-like dwelling, where there is a small tree without leaves and a metal gymnastic ladder. In the depths of the yard there is a female gorilla, large, black, with an equally black baby, since white coloring is not inherited, Copito de Nieve remains an exception among gorillas.
Grey-haired, huge, motionless, it seems to have existed since time immemorial, like mountains or pyramids. In fact, this is still a young monkey, and its old man’s appearance is only given by the contrast between its pink face and the short snow-white fur framing it, and especially the wrinkles around the eyes. As for the rest, Copito de Nieve is less similar to humans than other primates: instead of a nose, he has only nostrils - a kind of double failure; shaggy, inactive hands at the joints are the completion of long, rigid arms; in fact, they are also paws, and the gorilla uses them when walking, leaning like a quadruped on the ground.
Now with these hands and paws he pressed a car tire to his chest. He does not part with her for endless unoccupied hours. What is she to him? Toy? Mascot? Fetish? Palomar seems to understand the albino perfectly well, his need for something to hold on to when everything is slipping away, something that would help to relieve the melancholy of being isolated, of being different from everyone else and of the fact that he is forever doomed to be perceived as a living miracle their females, children and zoo visitors.
The female also has a tire, with which she, however, has a practical connection, without any complications: she sits in it, as if in a chair, sunbathes, picking out fleas from her son. Snowflake, as you can see, has an emotional, possessive, in some sense symbolic attitude towards the tire, not so far, perhaps, from what seems to a person as salvation from the nightmares of life - identifying oneself with things, recognizing oneself in signs, transforming the world into a set of symbols - almost the dawn of culture in a long biological night. For this, the gorilla has only a man-made tire, alien to him, not possessing the slightest symbolic potential, meaning nothing, pure abstraction. Looking at her can hardly give much. But at the same time, what more empty circle is capable of taking on any of the meanings assigned to it? Perhaps, identifying himself with this circle, the gorilla, in the depths of silence, will reach the origins of speech, and will choke a stream that will connect his thoughts and the stubborn, insensitive circumstances that determine his life...
After leaving the zoo, Palomar cannot forget the albino gorilla. He starts talking about it with people he meets; no one listens to him. At night, both in sleepless hours and in short dreams, Snowflake appears to him again. “What this tire with which he carries on a crazy conversation without words is for him, then for me he is himself, an albino gorilla. We are all fiddling with some old empty tire, trying to use it to comprehend some higher meaning that is beyond the reach of words.”