Snowflake (c. 1964 – 2003)
Snowflake was an albino gorilla. He was the most popular resident of the Barcelona Zoo in Spain. He got his name ‘Floquet de Neu” (little snowflake) from his keeper in the zoo and was later called Blacanieves (snow white) in the Spanish newspapers. Eventually he got the name Snowflake when National Geographic Magazine covered him in 1967. He became famous…
 
An ape specialist found the gorilla in 1966 in the then Spanish colony of Spanish Guinea (now Equatorial Guinea). The albino gorilla was captured by a farmer that killed the baby’s mother while she was taking his bananas. He obtained her unusual looking youngster. The visiting ape specialist took the gorilla and then sold him to the Barcelona Zoo four days later. There he became the unofficial mascot for the city Barcelona. During his life at the zoo Snowflake became the father of 22 youngsters, of which six survived to adulthood. None of his offspring was albino, although the zoo tried to ‘produce’ white gorillas through selective breeding. In 2001 they found that Snowflake suffered of skincancer, almost certainly related to his albinism. The last months of his life, thousands came to say goodbye to Snowflake.
 
On Novembre 24 2003, the vet put him down. He was then approximately 38-40 years old. Since gorillas have an average lifespan of 25 years, that’s very old. The albino gorilla became a main character in the novel Memòries d'en Floquet de Neu (Mr. Snowflake's Memories) by the Catalan writer Toni Sala. Snowflake’s keeper also dedicated a book to the gorilla, under the title Floquet per sempre (Snowflake Forever). Snowflake was broadly set in to bring attention to the protection of gorillas as endangered animal species. “If we do nothing, there will be no more gorillas in 30 years," his keeper said at the presentation of his book.
 
 
 

Video of people saying goodbye to Snowflake. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72TD0CkMhf4