Snowflake is a gorilla

Despite the bad press that gorillas received in over-imaginative tales by the first Europeans who explored Africa, and in films such as King Kong, field studies carried out by scientists such as George Schaller, Dian Fossey, Jordi Sabater Pi and Marga Bermejo have shown that gorillas are shy, peaceful, vegetarian animals that are capable of accepting humans into their environment, provided that the latter respect them and do not interfere in their daily habits and activities.

Recent gorilla DNA studies have shown that they share 97.7% of genes with human beings.

Gorillas live solely in the African Equatorial strip; there are 2 species and a total of five subspecies:

1. Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla): lives in the western part of the Equatorial jungle, in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Gabon, Congo and Equatorial Guinea. This species is divided into two subspecies:

      - Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Snowflake and most other gorillas in zoos belong to this subspecies.

      - Cross River Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli)

2. Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei): lives more towards the east, in the mountainous areas of the Eastern Congo, Zaire, Rwanda, Uganda and the border territories (the regions of Lake Kivu and the Virunga volcanoes). This species is divided into three subspecies: 

      - Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei)

      - Bwindi Forest Gorilla

      - Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri)

Gorillas live in established groups made up of 5-10 members, with a dominant male that leads and protects the females and their offspring. When the young gorillas grow up, they leave the paternal group to form their own group – in the case of males – or join other groups, in the case of females. 

Gorillas are peaceful animals and in areas with an abundance of food several groups of gorillas may inhabit the same area, without any serious confrontations.

They are herbivores and spend much of their day moving around looking for food, as they never completely exhaust a feeding source. An adult male can eat up to 30 kg of vegetation every day.

Just like humans, they do not have a specific breeding season, and the females give birth to a single baby after almost 9 months of gestation.

See gorilla profile

Male adult gorilla

Height: 1.80 m (upright).
Weight: 180-210 kg. 
Life expectancy: approximately 30 years in the wild, up to 50 years in captivity.
Secondary sexual characteristics: Adult males possess a very characteristic pronounced sagittal crest and grey fur on their backs, which gives them a silvery grey colouring; as a result, they are known as silverbacks.

Female adult gorilla

Height: 1.30-1.50 m (upright)
Weight: 64-114 Kg.
Life expectancy: approximately 30 years in the wild, 30-40 years in captivity.

Snowflake was a male gorilla from the subspecies Gorilla gorilla gorilla or Western Lowland Gorilla, the species that is most commonly found in zoos, and which has the highest number of individual animals living in the wild, though this figure is below 100,000. 

In fact, the total number of the five subspecies of gorillas is no higher than 100,000. UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme (which has included gorillas on its Red List of species in danger of extinction over the coming 30 years), reports that the main threat to these animals is human activity (hunting and habitat loss through deforestation and overexploitation of natural resources). 

The Ebola virus is also causing a high number of deaths in the Republic of the Congo and Gabon, a region that was home to 80% of gorillas living in the wild, and where gorilla numbers are estimated to have fallen by 56% in recent years. The list of reasons for the decline in gorilla numbers in the wild also includes armed conflicts, which are common in the region.

At present, there are three subspecies (of the five existing ones) that are classed as being in a critical situation: the Cross River Gorilla, the Mountain Gorilla and the Bwindi Forest Gorilla. UNEP estimates (data from 2000) that there are no more than 150 to 200 animals from the most endangered subspecies (the Cross River Gorillas) currently living in the wild. UNEP also claims that by 2030, less than 10% of the habitat of Africa’s great apes (gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos) will be free from human impact.

In all countries that have gorilla populations, laws exist that prohibit the hunting and capture of gorillas, but it is extremely difficult to enforce them. To prevent the animals from becoming extinct, in situ conservation programmes are set up, to create sanctuaries, reserves and national parks.

On the European level, an EEP (breeding programme) has been initiated on the species that live in zoos in order to maintain a population that is demographically sustainable and has sufficient genetic variability, to create a reserve against what could happen in the future.

In zoos

Nowadays, one of the priority functions of zoos is to act as animal reserves and genetic banks. Zoos represent the last hope of survival for many species, thanks to breeding programmes for endangered species in captivity. At the same time, zoos have an educational function, increasing social awareness and promoting respect for wildlife, as well as being excellent sites for biological search.

In 1985, the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) was created, with the following objectives: 

     - Coordinating the work carried out by all of Europe's zoos.
     - Carrying out an informative check on all the animals.
     -  Preventing the greatest risks that threaten species in captivity: 
           1. Inbreeding.
           2. Loss of genetic variability.
           3. Loss of behavioural variability. 

The EEP attempts to prevent these risks and to draw up scientific documentation on species in captivity.

Barcelona Zoo participates in 92 European programmes for breeding endangered species in captivity (EEPs and ESBs), one of which is Gorilla gorilla gorilla. Out of these 92 programmes, our zoo coordinates three: 

Barcelona Zoo is also the deputy coordinator of the EEP for gorillas.

Barcelona Zoo's commitment towards conserving species has resulted in its collaboration with and membership of WAPCA (West African Primate Conservation Action), an in situ conservation programme for African primates in West Africa. 

Furthermore, thanks to the projects of the Search and Conservation Programme, Barcelona Zoo also participates in the conservation of various species of primates, including the chimpanzees native to Sierra Leone (Pan troglodytes verus) and those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii), and the Tarsier (Tarsius syrichta) in the Philippines.

Barcelona Zoo is home to a large number of gorillas (nine, to be exact), of which seven are the children or grandchildren of the albino patriarch, Snowflake.

The equivalent EEP programme in the United States is called the Species Survival Plan Program (SSP), and is promoted by the US body the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. This programme has the same objectives as those of the EEPs. Currently, there are 145 species in the programme, one of which is Gorilla gorilla gorilla, which is also included in the SSCJ programmes coordinated by JAZGA (the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums). All this helps to boost cooperation between institutions and to establish strategies for conserving species and their habitats. 

What is the purpose of captive-breeding programmes?

To maintain sustainable populations with appropriate genetic variability, to preserve the behavioural repertoire of the species and to ensure the well-being of all the animals included in the programme, as well as to collaborate with in situ conservation of endangered species for which captive-breeding programmes have been created. 

"The survival of species will depend on the cooperation between the two parties involved in the conservation – ex situ and in situ – and on the acknowledgement that their conservationist efforts are interdependent, and the need for mutual reinforcement."

Source: World strategy on conservation in zoos
World Zoo Organisation (IUDZG)
Captive Breeding Specialist Group (IUCN/SSC)

In the wild

At present, there are a total of 17 national parks, one sanctuary, four reserves and one search centre in the African Equatorial strip. Protecting threatened and endangered species depends most importantly on conserving their habitats. 

To this end, areas have been created throughout Africa where hunting and the exploitation of natural resources is prohibited; these areas take the form of reserves, national parks and sanctuaries for conserving gorillas and other animal and plant species. 

These protected areas also attempt to provide the local community with a viable and sustainable economic alternative to hunting and trading in gorillas: eco-tourism. Using the gorillas themselves as a tourist attraction can help the people who live in the same countries and regions as the gorillas to realise the importance of ensuring the conservation and rational use of all the other available natural resources.

Individual citizens

- Become a member of Barcelona Zoo and take part in its conservation, education and search programmes on gorillas and endangered species.

- Make financial donations or become a member of the foundations, associations and bodies that fight against species extinction.

- Give your support (both financial and personal) to research and search: finding out about animals also helps us to find out about ourselves.

- Stay informed and updated on the situation of endangered species and the activities that are organised to prevent it. Understand that the disappearance of a species has diverse ecological consequences that we cannot predict with any exactness. All living organisms are interrelated, and the extinction of one of the members of the chain affects the rest of the system. In the case of gorillas, furthermore, this is an emblematic species, owing to its proximity to human beings, and their extinction would have an impact that would be hard to explain, but one way or another, it would end up affecting us all. 

- Make an effort as consumers to demand that manufacturers use types of wood that have been certified as respecting the environment, using practices that are sustainable for the fauna and flora.

- Call on governments and institutions to get involved in the fight against species extinction by drafting conservation laws, establishing institutional relations with countries where gorillas and other endangered animals live, and by supporting the creation of reserves and national parks in these countries.

The international community

- Help the countries in which gorillas and other endangered animals live to develop their economies without producing negative effects on habitat conservation or species protection. 

- Work with these countries to enforce compliance of the laws banning hunting and trafficking of protected species.

- Help to set up a network of efficiently-managed protected areas.

- Support educational awareness policies throughout the world.

- Demand compliance with laws prohibiting the hunting and trading of live gorillas and of products deriving from these animals (such as flesh, skulls, paws, etc).

Associations and NGOs

- Work with governments and other organisations to develop educational projects with the aim of reducing hunting among the African people and finding financial alternatives for their development and well-being. 

- Develop conservation programmes and help to create reserve areas. 

- Help to transfer information and experiences from previous conservation projects.

Zoos

Contribute to conservation in three areas:

- Guarantee the conservation of sustainable populations with a maximum of genetic and behavioural variability, and keep zoo animals in a state of well-being to ensure that their behavioural repertoire is maintained.

- Educate people about the causes and consequences of the extinction of animal and plant species in their particular geographical area. 

- Promote search to increase our level of knowledge regarding wildlife.

 Companies

- Give financial aid to conservation projects, nature parks and reserves. 

- Refuse to profit from deforestation and the uncontrolled exploitation of natural and human resources. 

- Introduce practices to ensure low-impact use of natural resources. 

- Contribute to the funding of research for conserving wildlife. (in situ/ex situ)