Answer: Equatorial Guinea

In 1966, Catalonian primatologist Jordi Sabater Pi stumbled across what would prove to be the most unique gorilla in the world while working in Equatorial Guinea in Africa. A local farmer had shot a group of gorillas that he had found tearing his banana plantation apart; on the back of one of the females he found a small baby completely white from head to toe. The farmer took him to the nearest city where he came to the attention of Pi.

Pi purchased the gorilla from the farmer and nicknamed him “Floquet de Neu,” Catalan for “little snowflake.” The gorilla was studied and eventually brought to the Barcelona Zoo in Spain. The nickname Snowflake stuck and the gorilla proved to be the most enduringly popular exhibit the zoo ever had. From 1967 to his death in 2003, Snowflake not only delighted the public, but served as a sort of ambassador for his species: his rarity was used as a springboard to draw attention to the plight of endangered gorillas and primates around the world.