Maury Povich Announces Paternity of Baby Orangutan at Denver Zoo and It's Perfect
Maury Povich is the king of paternity tests—and now just not for the human world!
He appeared in a video online discerning the results of a paternity test for a tiny 4-month-old orangutan at the Denver Zoo named Siska. In the video, he’s wearing a suit and holding the famous manila envelope with the results in his hand. He dramatically pauses, and then reveals the results of the test.
It turns out that a male orangutan named Burani is the father of Siska! As it turns out, the zoo didn’t know who the father of Siska was, so they needed to do a paternity test.
The little orangutan will now get to live his life out with his parents at his side. The zoo will give him everything he needs to have a great life!
Fun Facts About Orangutans
There are three species of orangutan: The Bornean, Sumatra, and Tapanuli are the three kinds throughout the world. But all three are also critically endangered due to their habitats being leveled for construction. These habitats are becoming less and less safe for the animals.
While they may look nimble, orangutans are the heaviest of all tree-dwelling animals. They can easily swing through the trees, though, with their 7 foot span between hands when stretched out fully.
Orangutans always seem to be eating something, and one funny thing about them is that they can eat with their feet. They have the dexterity to do it, so why not?
Orangutans are highly social and intelligent creatures that thrive off of social interactions with other orangutans. Little baby orangutans learn everything about the world from their moms. Young orangutans typically stay with their mom until they’re about 7 years old.
Orangutans love to be comfortable, especially when they sleep. That’s why they build big nests every night, called sleeping platforms, to sleep in. They actually build a new nest to sleep in every night since they tend to relocate a lot.
While eating, some orangutans use tools to crack open bark to get tasty termites or ants out of them.
It’s estimated that over 100,000 Borneans orangutans were killed between 1999 and 2015, all caused by loss or fragmentation of their forest habitat. This is caused by logging for timber, forest fires, and making way for palm oil plantations.
Oil palm trees produce palm oil, an edible vegetable oil that's used in many products. Workers cut down pristine rainforests to make more palm oil, which is not only unsustainable but releases a lot of carbon into the atmosphere.
By choosing products without palm oil, you can help limit the amount of it that needs to be produced. In turn, the orangutans will thank you!
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