Man or Ape? The Genetic Mystery of Oliver | Our World

In 1976, a bald chimpanzee with eerily human traits shocked the world. Nicknamed the “Humanzee,” Oliver walked on two legs, preferred human company, and defied scientific explanation. Was he a human-chimp hybrid? A missing link? Or something science had never seen before? Subscribe to Our World: https://bit.ly/3xnPuGL

Humans and chimpanzees share an estimated 98 per cent of genetic material, having branched off from one another two and a half million years ago. Genetically it is very likely that humans and chimpanzees could produce offspring. This fascinating special has unique access to the most famous purported human-chimpanzee hybrid called Oliver. He is 41 years old, walks upright on two legs, has a pronounced nose, human-like teeth and is eerily, always rejected by other chimpanzees. But is he really a chimp-human hybrid? Drawing on archive footage and interviews this film explores the taboo of hybridisation and the ethics of such a Frankenstein-science.

This film was first broadcast: 2003

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