Chengdu’s panda ‘Heo Ye’, thought to be male, turns out to be female
Similar cases have occurred in the past as it is difficult to identify the gender of pandas.
Local Chinese media reported on the 24th that a giant panda, previously thought to be a male, was identified as a female several years after birth.
Citing an announcement from the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Institute, Chinese state-run English media outlet Global Times reported that the giant panda ‘Heo Ye’, who was presumed to be a male, was in fact a female.
The female panda ‘Heo Hwa’, who is popular with Chinese netizens, and her younger brother, Heo Ye, were recognized as male from the time they were born in July 2020.
The panda’s keeper said, “When she was just born, her gender was tilted towards male,” and “After a few months, she showed male characteristics such as large urine output, lively personality, and tall stature, so everyone was convinced that she was a male. “He said in a video posted by the institute.
However, while Heo Ye was growing up, male sexual characteristics did not develop, so experts collected biological samples and examined them, and it was later confirmed that Heo Ye was a female.
However, the media reported that this is not the first case of misidentification of the gender of a panda. The explanation is that since pandas do not show clear secondary sexual characteristics, it is usually difficult to determine the gender of a newly born panda.
Heo Ye’s father, Mei Lan, who was born at the Atlanta Zoo in September 2006, was once mistaken for a female panda.
In addition, of the twin pandas Fufu and Papa, who were born in Chengdu in 2014 and live at a zoo in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, Fufu was thought to be female until 2018, but was revealed to be male. It wasn’t even until this year that Papa’s gender was revealed to be female.
Likewise, the case of Heo Ye, whose gender was changed, is also drawing great attention on Chinese social media (SNS). The media reported that the hashtag with the phrase ‘He changes from a younger brother to a younger sister’ had recorded about 200 million views on Weibo as of the 24th.
[베이징=뉴시스]
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.