News Forum - Japan zoo gender mix-up: Male hippo turns out to be female

[Thaiger]

In a revelation that has stunned both visitors and staff, Osaka Tennoji Zoo unearthed a surprising twist regarding Gen-chan, a hippo believed to be male since its arrival from Mexico’s Africam Safari in 2017 at the tender age of 5. The zoo dropped a bombshell on its website, disclosing that Gen-chan is, in fact, a … …

The story Japan zoo gender mix-up: Male hippo turns out to be female as seen on Thaiger News.

Read the full story

[Guest1]

Are the Japanese not knowing, that DNA isnt saying anything about gender, anymore?

[BigHewer]

Nothing new in Japan. They're often misidentifying the gender of animals in zoos. I didn't know about the hippo, but I'm not surprised. The most recent of many, many cases in Japanese zoos.

Lion earlier this year (they became suspicious when the "male" lion didn't grow a mane )

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240304/p2a/00m/0li/002000c

Panda in 2020 (same zoo got it wrong with a previous panda birth in 2005)

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20201222/p2a/00m/0na/009000c

"Male" barn owl suddenly lays an egg in 2021

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210416/p2a/00m/0na/029000c

Clueless.

[Ramanathan.P]

May be the Japs need a Jap to acquire the talents to identify gender in animals...