A genetic study has identified inbreeding as the cause of albinism in Snowflake, a western lowland gorilla who lived at Barcelona Zoo for 37 years.
Snowflake arrived at Barcelona Zoo in 1966 as a young gorilla caught in Equatorial Guinea. For nearly four decades, he was the only known gorilla with albinism in captivity — white-furred, pale-eyed, and studied by researchers long after his death in 2003.
A genetic study, published in BMC Genomics and reported by NBC News, has identified the likely cause of his albinism: inbreeding between close relatives. Researchers at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Barcelona analysed Snowflake's preserved DNA and found that his parents were probably uncle and niece, according to the study. That degree of relatedness, the researchers reported, was sufficient to produce the recessive gene combination responsible for his colouring.
The team identified the specific mutation in a gene called SLC45A2, which is associated with albinism in several species, including humans. The finding, the study noted, rules out earlier hypotheses that Snowflake's albinism resulted from a mutation unique to gorillas.
Snowflake's case has drawn scientific interest for decades, in part because albinism is exceptionally rare in wild gorilla populations. The Barcelona study represents the first full genomic analysis of his condition, according to NBC News. Researchers said the work also offered a broader window into how recessive traits surface when genetic diversity narrows — a concern relevant to conservation efforts for great apes whose populations remain under pressure.
The gorilla died of skin cancer in 2003, a condition the zoo's veterinary team linked at the time to his lack of protective pigmentation.
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