Primate Paternity Problems—Swiss Zoo Makes Interesting Discovery
Zookeepers in Basel, Switzerland, made a shocking discovery when they analyzed DNA from a young gorilla as part of data it keeps on animals born in captivity.
A DNA test showed that young Chelewa was not fathered by 17-year-old gorilla Kisoro as zookeepers assumed. Within captive gorilla tribes, it has been known by scientists and zookeepers that only male gorillas 12 years or older have the “right” to mate with females in their tribe. But in the case of Chelewa, normal mating rituals seem to have been oddly overturned. The DNA test proved that a much younger male—9-year-old Viatu—had fathered Chelewa by mating with one of the tribe’s females.
In an AFP online article, zookeepers called the situation “almost unbelieveable,” and that by mating with a female at such a young age, Viatu had “broken all the rules that apply in gorilla communities.”
It seems young Viatu certainly has shaken up this zoo’s gorilla clan with his sneaky monkey business!
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