A zoo in Japan recently learned that their male resident hippo is a female. Japan's Osaka Tennoji Zoo took in a hippo named Gen-chan seven years ago. However, a DNA test found out that the animal is actually a female, as per a report in CBS News.
They revealed the news on their website and said that the hippo was taken from Mexico's African Safari in 2017 at age 5. "The animal was only 5 years old at the time and was still a child. We had no doubts," a translation of the zoo's post said.
"When introducing the animal, the person in charge of the zoo where it was kept explained that it was a 'male' and the documents required for import also indicated that it was a 'male,' and the animal was only 5 years old at the time, so it was still a child. We had no doubts," the Japan zoo wrote.
Regarding the animal's sex, they added that Gen-chan never showed "male-specific behaviours". Zookeepers told AFP that Gen-chan did not have the most common habit of male hippos, which is to whip their tails in a propeller-like motion while defecating to mark their territory. Caretakers were unable to locate any male genitalia, and the hippo failed to make courtship calls to females.
Since Gen-chan's reproductive organs cannot be "visually confirmed," the zoo decided to have a third-party organization test its DNA. "However, based on this result, we recognize the importance of reconfirming the sex of introduced animals and will take precautions to ensure that this does not happen again. We will continue to strive to provide a comfortable environment for Gen-chan, so we hope that you will continue to come and see Gen-chan," the zoo added.
