Tags: EU | Switzerland | Orangutan Paternity

Who's the Daddy? Surprise in Swiss Orangutan Paternity Test

Thursday, 31 January 2019 12:38 PM EST

BERLIN (AP) — A paternity test on a baby orangutan has come back with a surprising result.

Basel Zoo in northwestern Switzerland said Thursday that the test shows 5-month-old Padma wasn't fathered by the male in her enclosure.

Keepers routinely take DNA samples from newborn orangutans because the endangered great apes are part of a breeding program.

Researchers at Basel University's forensic laboratory compared Padma's DNA to that of Budi, a 14-year-old male living in the same enclosure as her mother, Maja.

They found it didn't match Budi's DNA. Instead, it matched that of 18-year-old orangutan Vendel, who lives in the next enclosure.

It appears that for Maja and Vendel, the zoo's dominant male, the dividing fence was no obstacle to some monkey business.

Basel Zoo: https://www.zoobasel.ch/en/aktuell/index.php

© Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


GlobalTalk
A paternity test on a baby orangutan has come back with a surprising result.Basel Zoo in northwestern Switzerland said Thursday that the test shows 5-month-old Padma wasn't fathered by the male in her enclosure.Keepers routinely take DNA samples from newborn orangutans...
EU,Switzerland,Orangutan Paternity
126
2019-38-31
Thursday, 31 January 2019 12:38 PM
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