# Human-animal Hybrids - possible? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-animal-hybrids-possible/452463 "2008-06-10T16:51:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-animal-hybrids-possible/452463/21 "2008-06-13T00:02:48Z")
What about Oliver? I’m watching stuff on youtube about him. Wiki article: [Oliver (chimpanzee) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_%28chimpanzee%29) ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-animal-hybrids-possible/452463/22 "2008-06-13T00:44:23Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] What about Oliver? I’m watching stuff on youtube about him. Wiki article: [Oliver (chimpanzee) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_%28chimpanzee%29) [/QUOTE] Well, the Wikipedia article you point to says he’s a chimpanzee. And, from the website [The Humanzee That Wasn’t:](http://www.rense.com/general67/oliver.htm) > [@](#): > > (1). Since then, the cytogenetic analysis alluded to in that report has been completed, along with mtDNA sequencing and homology comparisons to African chimpanzees of known geographical origins, and just published in the AJPA > (2). Our results indicate that Oliver is a member of the Pan troglodytes troglodytes subspecies from Central Africa, has 48 normal chimpanzee chromosomes, and was likely trapped in Gabon. Full details behind our conclusions can be found in our report ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-animal-hybrids-possible/452463/23 "2008-06-13T01:09:22Z")
Ohh. ☹ Well, he’s definitely weird all the same, isn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-animal-hybrids-possible/452463/24 "2008-06-13T01:30:20Z")
Oh, yeah. I saw him in some documentary on the local PBS channel a couple years ago (they mentioned the gene test results), and that was one freaky looking primate. And I should know, being a freaky looking primate myself. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-animal-hybrids-possible/452463/25 "2008-06-13T01:40:24Z")
[QUOTE=3acresandatruck] Well, the Wikipedia article you point to says he’s a chimpanzee. And, from the website [The Humanzee That Wasn’t:](http://www.rense.com/general67/oliver.htm) [/QUOTE] I’m not saying he’s not, but if it did so happen that he was indeed a humanzee, it makes you wonder if it would be reported so. Seems to me many powers that be wouldn’t be averse to lying if it meant not confirming such hybrids were possible. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-animal-hybrids-possible/452463/26 "2008-06-13T15:14:14Z")
[QUOTE=Bootis] I’m not saying he’s not, but if it did so happen that he was indeed a humanzee, it makes you wonder if it would be reported so. Seems to me many powers that be wouldn’t be averse to lying if it meant not confirming such hybrids were possible. [/QUOTE] Seems to me that such news would be so sensational, and that there would be enough money to be made by reporting it, that it would impossible to keep it secret. Impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-animal-hybrids-possible/452463/27 "2008-06-13T15:16:38Z")
[QUOTE=3acresandatruck] Oh, yeah. I saw him in some documentary on the local PBS channel a couple years ago (they mentioned the gene test results), and that was one freaky looking primate. And I should know, being a freaky looking primate myself. [/QUOTE] I saw the PBS documentary on [youtube.com](http://youtube.com) after I posted that last night. Not a humanzee, but definitely odd. The walking upright comfortably all the time…the small head…the fact that other chimps didn’t care for him…all odd. The trying to mate with his owner was creepy, but I suppose even regular chimps/nonhuman primates have tried that, from what I have read. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-animal-hybrids-possible/452463/28 "2008-06-13T20:05:14Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] I think “natural sex” between a human and a chimp would be next to impossible. I’m not sure you could get a male chimp to mate with a human female and if a human male tried to mate with a chimp female, the chimp would probably rip the human’s head off. You’d probably have to use a date rape drug or otherwise sedate the chimp. [/QUOTE] If you are thinking of wild chimps, you may be correct. However, chimps that have been raised in captivity as human “family members” would have little reason to think they were not human (especially ones raised in isolation from other chimps). I would see no reason why a male or female chimp would not mate with a human under those circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-animal-hybrids-possible/452463/29 "2008-06-13T20:14:05Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] If you are thinking of wild chimps, you may be correct. However, chimps that have been raised in captivity as human “family members” would have little reason to think they were not human (especially ones raised in isolation from other chimps). I would see no reason why a male or female chimp would not mate with a human under those circumstances. [/QUOTE] Yes, Oliver was more than willing to have relations with humans. ---
**Author:** ![Laalune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Laalune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laalune)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-animal-hybrids-possible/452463/30 "2008-06-13T21:47:11Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Supposedly there was some research done in the former USSR (1920 or 30s, IIRC), but I don’t think it was well documented. [/QUOTE] I did recently see a documentary on this. The experiment was supposed to involve a woman and a gorilla. The woman had written this teary letter to the scientists, saying that she had been a loser all her life, doing nothing right, and that she wanted to do something for the good of science and of humankind. Unfortunately, the gorilla died before they could perform the prelevation of the sperm. I didn’t really understand why they couldn’t just use another gorilla. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-animal-hybrids-possible/452463/31 "2008-06-13T22:11:23Z")
[QUOTE=Laalune] I did recently see a documentary on this. The experiment was supposed to involve a woman and a gorilla. The woman had written this teary letter to the scientists, saying that she had been a loser all her life, doing nothing right, and that she wanted to do something for the good of science and of humankind. Unfortunately, the gorilla died before they could perform the prelevation of the sperm. I didn’t really understand why they couldn’t just use another gorilla. [/QUOTE] There probably weren’t many available in the 1920s. ---
**Author:** ![Fly\_Pusher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Fly\_Pusher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fly_Pusher)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-animal-hybrids-possible/452463/32 "2008-06-13T22:46:17Z")
Not quite the same as interbreeding, but hybrid human-animal cells have existed, where human DNA is injected into cells from other species. Not the full genome, of course, but at least a couple of chromosome’s worth. Here’s something interesting: [hybrid stem cells are allowed in the UK.](http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/09/05/hybrid-embryos.html?ref=rss) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-animal-hybrids-possible/452463/33 "2008-06-14T13:30:06Z")
[QUOTE=wolf in second hand clothing] Is there any DNA transplanted into a human from an animal by a retrovirus, or human DNA in any animals? I have heard that cats have some baboon DNA, and cows have some plant DNA of some sort? [/QUOTE] As I recall, about 1-2% of our DNA has been transplanted from other species, and no doubt animals have got some of ours. And IIRC peas have a bit of hemoglobin DNA thanks to retroviruses. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-animal-hybrids-possible/452463.md?page=1)