World's only white gorilla dies

Snowflake, the world's only known albino gorilla, died of skin cancer yesterday.

The health of Barcelona Zoo's star attraction deteriorated recently and he was moved from public view last week.

In 37 years at the zoo, he fathered 22 offspring with three different females. None is albino.

Snowflake, Copito de Nieve in Spanish, was about 38 to 40 years old - 80 in human terms.

His wrinkly white face is on postcards across the city, he was the main character in a novel and even had memoirs written in his name.