MALE -FEMALE- MAKE : PANDA DUTCH ZOO

 

The Hague : Male panda turns out to be female : A two-year-old giant panda at a Dutch zoo has caused a stir by turning out to be a female and not a male as initially thought.

The discovery at the Ouwehands Zoo was made during a routine medical check-up on Fan Xing, who was the first giant panda to be born in the Netherlands.

The zoo's manager confirmed the news on national television late Thursday.

 ''Fan Xing surprised us,'' said Jose Kok, in a statement released by the zoo after the broadcast interview.

'' For us, the sex was just a fact we wanted to check during the exam under anaesthesia, to be sure.''

The panda underwent a short medical examination a few months after being born, which has to be done quickly so that the baby can be reunited with its mother.

But Kok said that determining sex is difficult in young baby not under anaesthetics. [AFP]