Panda cub born in 2020 at Ouwehands Zoo is a girl, not a boy as suspected

The young giant panda Fan Xing, who was born in 2020 in Ouwehands Zoo and still lives there, is actually a female, and not a male as previously believed. The animal park discovered this when examining the animal, who will soon be relocated to China, said Ouwehands Zoo director Robin de Lange and caretaker José Kok on Op1 on Thursday evening.

"It's very hard to observe," said the caretaker. "And we were so convinced that it must be a male that it never occurred to us to doubt that."

The young Fan Xing, her mother Wu Wen, and father Xing Ya are officially on loan from China. Xing Ya and Wu Wen came to the Netherlands in 2017 and will stay in Rhenen for a period of 15 years.

It was previously agreed that any cubs born to the adult pandas can stay at the zoo in Rhenen for a maximum of four years. They must then return to the breeding center in China. The country is the only location where giant pandas are found in the wild. The breeding program has been considered a success, because the species is no longer considered endangered, though it is still vulnerable.

Pandas are sexually mature from the fourth year of life. Fan Xing will also participate in a breeding program in China.

Fan Xing was taken away from her mother in January. The park hoped that mother Wu Wen would more likely become pregnant again once separated from her cub.

Female pandas are only fertile for one to three days per year. Only at birth is it known whether a mating has been successful.