10/3/2003: Albino gorilla has skin cancer
 

http://cellar.org/2003/albinogorilla.jpg

A touching one today, this is Copito de Nieve, 'Snowflake' at the Barcelona zoo, Spain. He's been considered a mascot of Barcelona since he was captured in 1966.

He is the only albino gorilla in the world, and he is dying. Vets told the world that Snowflake has terminal skin cancer and is expected to live only a few months.

He's had 22 gorilla kids in his 37 years at the zoo, but none were albino. The genetic trait is out there, and maybe one day it will be expressed again, but for now, this is the last one.

It looks to me like he is coming on to the picture taker. Maybe he is ready for kid #23.

He can't fool me.. He bleaches it.

Re: 10/3/2003: Albino gorilla has skin cancer
 

How depressing. Almost 40 years in captivity. I wonder if he can even remember being free now...

Quzah.

he does look a little frisky. Sad though that he is dying. Maybe he knows that and is trying to live his life to the fullest.

Re: Re: 10/3/2003: Albino gorilla has skin cancer
 

I think "free" means different things to animals (not to start a huge thread here). He may or may not remember living in the wild, but 22 kids, all the food he needs, never having to defend himself from other males, he may have no problem living in captivity. after gorillas pass adolesence they calm down a great deal and probably don't care whether they are free to roam or not, because he was still satisfying all his feral "needs". This is all speculation of course.

That may be wishful thinking.:D
I agree he's been living large and I doubt he's been contemplating the meaning of life or his place in the grand sceme of things.

Poor Snowflake:( . I'm not big on zoos (for reasons I won't get into here, mainly not to "start a huge thread"), but in Snowflake's case I have to pause and wonder if maybe he did do better in the zoo. If left in the wild I wonder what his longevity would have been, being an albino and all. Albinos in any species don't tend to do well in the wild.

I wonder if they had taught him to use sunscreen if it would have reduced his chance of getting skin cancer or at least prolonged it?

Because you can't sell tickets to a hidden gorilla.:(

Naw, the activists wouldn't stand for not letting out. They'd demand he be accorded his right to get cancer like every other albino gorilla.:rolleyes:

So, I'm sitting here, phrasing a joke about eating him once he's dead while I wait for the page to load (I miss cable, as much as it sucked), and I'm struck with a question I'm too lazy to research for myself:

Is it hazardous to eat cancerous flesh?


I'm guessing not, because you're primarily aiming for the muscle and, unless you're developing a "Gorilla" line of sushi, it's likely cooked.

Regardless of the obvious logic, eating formerly diseased animals isn't something I've ever given much thought to. Go figure.

Interesting question, Skunks. I would suppose diseased animals in the wild are eaten when they die. Maybe it depends what they are eaten by. Scavengers tend to have stronger digestive systems.:)