A DNA test has further deepened the mystery surrounding the baby gorilla’s origins, according to the Nature Conservation and National Parks Authority.
A baby western lowland gorilla named Zeytin plays at the Polonezkoy Zoo in Istanbul on September 3, 2025.
The five-month-old primate was found in the cargo hold of a plane flying from Nigeria to Thailand in late December. Turkish authorities initially planned to return him to the West African country that had requested his return.
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On Friday, the authority responsible for his protection announced that genetic tests showed that Zeytin did not originate from Nigeria.
“DNA tests conducted under the coordination of the Ankara University Genetics Laboratory have shown that Zeytin is a western lowland gorilla and that his country of origin is not Nigeria,” the directorate said in a statement, without being able to determine the animal’s exact origin.
While Nigeria has demanded his return under CITES — the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora — Turkey is now citing the same document to justify its decision.
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“In accordance with the directives of CoP 19 (nineteenth conference of the parties), it was decided that Zeytin will remain in a zoo in Turkey, in safe hands,” the Nature Agency said.
When the gorilla cub was discovered, it did not have a certificate of origin. Ankara agreed to return it on condition that Nigeria guarantees its protection from any illegal trafficking.
Zeytin plays in the grounds of the Polonezkoy Zoo in Istanbul, September 3, 2025. (OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)
A rapidly growing trade
This was the first time a gorilla has been detained at Istanbul airport. “He was scared, you could see it in his eyes,” the regional director of the department, Fahrettin Ulu, told AFP.
Zeytin, who weighed 9.4 kilograms when he arrived at the zoo, where he now lives in an open enclosure, was 16 kilograms and 80 centimeters tall when AFP visited him in mid-September.
According to Traffic, a British NGO specializing in wildlife protection, the illegal trade in baby great apes is growing at an alarming rate. More and more buyers are looking to turn them into pets or use them in zoos, circuses, shows or on social media.
Baby gorillas are particularly popular “because they are very docile and easy to transport,” the organization emphasizes.
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