A paternity test on a baby orangutan has come back with a surprising result.
Basel Zoo in northwestern Switzerland said Thursday the test showed 5-month-old Padma wasn91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™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 University91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s forensic laboratory compared Padma91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s DNA to that of Budi, a 14-year-old male living in the same enclosure as the baby91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s mother, Maja.
They found it didn91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™t match Budi91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s DNA. Instead, it matched 18-year-old orangutan Vendel, who lives in the next enclosure.
It appears that for Maja and Vendel, the dominant male at Basel Zoo, the dividing fence was no obstacle to some monkey business.
The Associated Press
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