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.

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

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

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?

I thought Albinos of any species were already light-sensitive? Why'd they let him get so much sun???

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

Can sell tickets to an INDOOR gorilla. Can't sell em to a dead one.

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.

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.

I'm gonna pull a guess out of my ass and say yes. You wouldn't "catch" cancer from eating cancer so the only question is whether the tumor is toxic or not. I think the body would break it down just like any other flesh.

From what I understand, cancer is just cells that start multiplying out of control. Some sort of trigger is missing, and they don't 'stop' when they're supposed to. So if that's true, then it wouldn't hurt you at all.

Where's our resident biologist when we need her?

Swimming with dolp^H^H^H^Hsharks.

I have a friend who can "see" cancer. She says she can see auras of living things, and when someone has cancer, she can see where it is. I've seen her do it. She also see other types of sickness, but she says cancer is the most prominent.

Yeah, I've heard lots of stories saying that animals can smell cancer. Of course they have a hard time communicating it when they find it, but discoveries have been made by them, I'm told.

Beagles are especially good for this...Western medicine is investigating their use. It must be difficult to train a dog to smell this, but it appears that certain types of cancer do indeed have a characteristic 'scent'.

Brian

Damn right, cancer stinks.

He died.

I dunno, 22 screaming brats and three mothers- in- law.

      Nah, he acts like he intends to discipline the kids even once and they're shipped off to a different cage. Assuming that they were ever with him in the first place. Plus, they never said anything about marriage, just that he knocked some ape ladies up. They're moms probably weren't even at the same zoo anyway.

Ooooh, I see. A gorilla Ron Jeremy. Except Ron has dark hair.

I had kind of envisioned "Conan the Barbarian", when he's in his cage full of lavish stuff, and they're giving him women.