This majestic gorilla, Anaka, was born with a lack of pigmentation in her fingers. Her hand looks almost human-like, reminding us how close these distant ancestors actually are to us humans. Anaka is a Western Lowland Gorilla and lives at the Atlanta Zoo. She has a rare birthmark on her fingers resulting in light pigmentation causing it to appear like the hand of a person.
This condition of Anaka’s wasn’t brought to the world’s attention until recently, though the zoo has known for some time now. Atlanta Zoo was celebrating Anaka’s sixth birthday in August when they posted pictures of the gorillas hand to Facebook revealing the beauty of her markings. People were in awe by the appearance of her hand, the resemblance is uncanny.
This perfectly placed birthmark makes it look very similar to a bruised human hand.
Apart from her unique hand, Anaka has a very unique personality too, according to Atlanta Zoo.
“She is often seen riding piggyback on her brother and sisters” the zoo comments on their website.
“She is also often barking at her mom and others to get a prime spot for food and juice.”
Anaka pictured on her sixth birthday, when the world took notice of her appearance.
Some might think she has a condition called vitiligo, a disease that causes skin to lose pigmentation cells. In reality, its just a birthmark.
More info: Zoo Atlanta
The fact that Anaka has fingernails really supports the idea that her hands appear so much like a humans. This trait is common among all primates, used for scratching and scraping, rather than claws which are used for catching and holding prey. Anaka really is something special, it is not common for gorillas to have birthmarks, let alone right on their fingers!