Maury Povich Helps Denver Zoo Announce the Paternity of Baby Orangutan: ‘You Are the Father!’

The talk show host delivered his signature line while revealing the paternity results of a 4-month-old Sumatran orangutan named Siska

When the Denver Zoo was ready to announce the paternity of a baby orangutan, they invited a special guest: Maury Povich.

Jake Kubié, the zoo’s director of integrated communications, tells PEOPLE that the retired TV host, who famously settled countless paternity disputes on his daytime talk show, was the first person he thought of for the job.

“I was apparently a bigger fan of Maury Povich than I thought, and his voice just popped into my head,” Kubié says. “I thought you might be willing to do this for us.”

Denver Zoon/X; Courtesy of the Denver Zoo

After what he describes as “a little light online stalking,” Kubié tracked down Povich’s executive producer, who put him in touch with his executive assistant.

As it turned out, Povich liked the idea. On Tuesday, the zoo shared a video of the host, dressed in a tuxedo, revealing the father of Siska, a 4-month-old Sumatran orangutan.

“Fresh off receiving a Daytime Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement, Maury Povich is here to help us announce the paternity results for Siska,” begins the caption on the zoo’s X post. “Is Siska’s father thirty-year-old Berani or 16-year-old Jaya?”

Courtesy of the Denver Zoo

“Berani, you are the father!” Povich declares in the video, before it was interrupted by applause from zoo staff.

Kubié says Siska’s birth in August is a “big deal,” since Sumatran orangutans are a critically endangered species, with a global population estimated at between 10,000 and 13,000.

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Siska’s mother, Eirina, was paired with two potential mates: Berani, a longtime zoo resident and father before that, and Jay, who was brought to the zoo several years ago as part of the Species Survival Plan Denver Zoo works with other accredited zoos.

Courtesy of the Denver Zoo

Eirina spent time with each male and there was “some courtship and mating activity” with both, Kubié says. “Both were definitely options to be fathers, but we weren’t sure which one.”

The zoo needed DNA from hair follicles for Siska, Berani and Jaya – but building trust with Eirina to bring her newborn close enough for animal care staff to obtain a sample took several months, hence the wait.

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Kubié says Siska is still bonded to her mom, adding that she is “absolutely adorable” and a “huge hit” with zoo visitors.

Courtesy of the Denver Zoo

He says it’s been especially fun to see people’s reaction to the video on social media, given that some zoo followers even predicted Povich would reveal it after the zoo teased Siska’s DNA results on Monday.

“People said, ‘I hope you get Maury for this,'” he says. “Several people have suggested maybe a Maury impersonator. And I’m sitting there thinking, ‘Just wait, it’s going to be great.'”

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“We have many big fans of our orangutan family here,” he adds. “So there’s an equal amount of excitement about knowing who the father was and that Maury did this for us.”

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Source: HIS Education