The Cellar  

Go Back   The Cellar > Images > Image of the Day

Image of the Day Images that will blow your mind - every day. [Blog] [RSS] [XML]

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 10-03-2003, 01:09 PM   #1
Undertoad
Radical Centrist
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Cottage of Prussia
Posts: 31,423
10/3/2003: Albino gorilla has skin cancer



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.
Undertoad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2003, 01:28 PM   #2
Jacque Strapp
Romantic Necromancer
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 29
It looks to me like he is coming on to the picture taker. Maybe he is ready for kid #23.
__________________
|End of Line|
Jacque Strapp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2003, 03:17 PM   #3
MachineyBear
Romantic Necromancer
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 29
He can't fool me.. He bleaches it.
MachineyBear is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2003, 03:34 PM   #4
quzah
Knight of the Oval-Shaped Conference Table
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 375
Re: 10/3/2003: Albino gorilla has skin cancer

Quote:
Originally posted by Undertoad
He's been considered a mascot of Barcelona since he was captured in 1966.
How depressing. Almost 40 years in captivity. I wonder if he can even remember being free now...

Quzah.
quzah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2003, 04:28 PM   #5
daniwong
Vice-President of Resentment
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 196
Quote:
Originally posted by Jacque Strapp
It looks to me like he is coming on to the picture taker. Maybe he is ready for kid #23.
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.
__________________
Mistress of all that is claim related.
daniwong is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2003, 08:57 PM   #6
gossard187
Caste-Away
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Palo Alto
Posts: 48
Re: Re: 10/3/2003: Albino gorilla has skin cancer

Quote:
Originally posted by quzah

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

Quzah.
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.
gossard187 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2003, 11:22 PM   #7
xoxoxoBruce
The future is unwritten
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 71,105
Quote:
(not to start a huge thread here).
That may be wishful thinking.
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.
__________________
The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.
xoxoxoBruce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2003, 11:51 PM   #8
LUVBUGZ
Not aging gracefully.
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 530
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.
__________________
You can't catch me...don't even try...go do something else...see ya next year.

Mama Loves You Baby Girl ~ May You Rest In Peace
LUVBUGZ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2003, 11:54 PM   #9
LUVBUGZ
Not aging gracefully.
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 530
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?
__________________
You can't catch me...don't even try...go do something else...see ya next year.

Mama Loves You Baby Girl ~ May You Rest In Peace
LUVBUGZ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2003, 04:29 PM   #10
OnyxCougar
Junior Master Dwellar
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Kingdom of Atlantia
Posts: 2,979
I thought Albinos of any species were already light-sensitive? Why'd they let him get so much sun???
__________________

Impotentes defendere libertatem non possunt.

"Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth."
~Franklin D. Roosevelt
OnyxCougar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2003, 06:24 PM   #11
xoxoxoBruce
The future is unwritten
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 71,105
Because you can't sell tickets to a hidden gorilla.
__________________
The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.
xoxoxoBruce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2003, 06:28 PM   #12
OnyxCougar
Junior Master Dwellar
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Kingdom of Atlantia
Posts: 2,979
Can sell tickets to an INDOOR gorilla. Can't sell em to a dead one.
__________________

Impotentes defendere libertatem non possunt.

"Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth."
~Franklin D. Roosevelt
OnyxCougar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2003, 08:11 PM   #13
xoxoxoBruce
The future is unwritten
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 71,105
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.
__________________
The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.
xoxoxoBruce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-07-2003, 12:32 AM   #14
Skunks
I thought I changed this.
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: western nowhere, ny
Posts: 412
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.
Skunks is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-07-2003, 04:35 AM   #15
xoxoxoBruce
The future is unwritten
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 71,105
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.
__________________
The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.
xoxoxoBruce is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
albino, animal, gorilla


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:27 AM.


Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.