Snowflake was brought to Barcelona in November 1966 after surviving a massacre of a gorilla group by local farmers in Equatorial Guinea. Snowflake was found by ape specialist Jordi Sabater Pi (later his keeper) clinging to his dead mothers’ neck and later brought to the zoo in Barcelona. Snowflake is the only known albino gorilla so far (although not the only ape), and became famous when featured on the main page of National Geographic Magazine in March 1967.

During his lifetime in the Barcelona zoo he fathered twenty-two offspring with three females and lived to see his grandchildren. None of his offspring were albino. The zoo hoped to reproduce more white gorillas but weren’t successful. The average lifespan of a gorilla in the wild is 25, but Snowflake managed to live between 38-40 years in the zoo. In 2001 he developed an unusual form of skin cancer, probably related to his albinism condition. In September 2003, it was publicly announced that he was dying. Thousands visited the zoo to say goodbye before he was euthanized in November 2003. Snowflake caused great sadness and became both a symbol and an icon appearing in different covers, songs, novels, and postcards.