He might not like to hear it, but Kung Fu Panda is a she
Print Edition
A GIANT panda born at a zoo in the US state of Atlanta and named after the cartoon hero of the hugely successful “Kung Fu Panda” film turns out to be a female.
Po, born in 2010, is the third offspring of Lun Lun and Yang Yang, a panda couple gifted to Zoo Atlanta in 1999.
Born in the aftermath of the 2008 Hollywood box office powerhouse, Po was given the same name as the cartoon’s main character, generating lots of interest and attention from visitors eager to see the “real kung fu panda.”
Movie star Jack Black, who voiced the cartoon Po in the movie, announced the panda’s name in a ceremony at the zoo.
Under an agreement between Zoo Atlanta and China’s Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Po was to be sent back to the center in Sichuan Province in late November. However, in a pre-shipment physical examination, it was discovered Po was female and not male as had always been thought. The trip from the United States back to China had to be postponed as the paperwork needed to be redone.
In another twist, Po’s “brothers” — Mei Lun and Mei Huan, a pair of twin giant pandas born at the zoo five months ago and sexed as male — also turned out to be female after DNA tests were carried out.
Zoo Atlanta confirmed on its official website on December 13 that all three are female.
Experts say pandas have no obvious external clues to their sex before reaching the age of three. Male and female pandas won’t show much difference in behavior either before sexual maturity. Experts in China usually judge panda cubs’ sex from experience, with a success rate of 90 percent.
Zoo Atlanta said there were no plans to change the pandas’ names.
It’s not the first time the zoo has had problems with a panda’s sex. In 2010, Mei Lan was sent back to Chengdu with everyone believing she was a female. Experts at Chengdu, quickly determined she was a he.
Mei Lan is Lun Lun and Yang Yang’s second cub.
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