Meet Anaka, a female Western Lowland gorilla who lives at Zoo Atlanta, Georgia, the United States. The feisty ape has drawn many visitors ever since her birth inside the Ford African RainForest exhibit in 2013. The widespread interest is due to her rare congenital condition, which has given her partially-pink, human-like fingers.
Every once in a while, a gorilla is born with depigmentation, typically with small spots or patches on the hands or feet. However, Anaka has a distinctive white and pink discolouration between her knuckles and her fingertips, which is decidedly human-like.
“The change in pigment is somewhat normal for newborn gorillas, particularly on the bottoms of their feet,” Jodi Carrigan, the zoo’s Curator of Primates, said. “I’ve seen it with most of the infants we’ve had here. The patterns vary; sometimes there are swirls, sometimes there are blotches, etc.
While there’s no saying when the colouring will go away, taking up to two years in some cases, with Anaka it was starting to look like a question of if.
Observers speculated that she had vitiligo. However, Zoo Atlanta later clarified that it was a birthmark.
There’s more to Anaka than just her hand. She has a “very strong personality and is very full of energy…all the time,” says Sara Fee, Senior Keeper for Gorillas.
Fee explains, “Anaka is a very vocal individual and lets you know when she’s feeling any sort of way. Whether it’s her excited happy grumbles when she’s getting extra attention during a training session, her impatient whines when you’re preparing her treats for a training session, or when she’s ready for dinner with her chimpanzee-like yelps, she’s sure to let you know what’s on her mind.”
Aside from her expressiveness, the gorilla is also described by zoo officials as a bright student. In 2022, she voluntarily undertook an awake cardiac ultrasound.
“Heart disease is the main cause of mortality for adult gorillas; gathering information from all gorillas for the Great Ape Heart Project is great information and a great learning and enrichment opportunity for Anaka to participate,” Fee said at the time.
