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'Male' Panda Gives Birth to Twins

Posted Aug 9, 07 3:18 PM CDT in World 

(Newser) – A giant panda once thought to be male gave birth to twin cubs this week in China. Jinzhu was believed to be male at birth, but the panda showed zero sexual interest after being shipped to Japan in 2000 to breed with a female. When scientists attempted artificial insemination, they discovered that Jinzhu had no penis, Reuters reports.

In 2005, scientists finally realized that the only irregularity in Jinzhu's anatomy was misplaced ovaries. One 2-hour surgery later, she was a "normal girl," the state news service reports. She was paired off with a male in March and gave birth 142 days later at the world-famous Wolong Nature Reserve.

Source Reuters

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In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, two giant pandas enjoy a moment together at the China Panda Protection and Research Center in Wolong, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Wednesday,...   (Associated Press)
"Jinzhu was believed to be male owing to her inconspicuous secondary sex characteristic and behavior," said Wei Rongping, assistant director of the Wolong reserve's research centre.   (Shutterstock.com)
Victim of mistaken sexual identity, Jinzhu was actually sent to Japan in 2000 to mate with a female.   ((c) Super Starfish)
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A baby panda sneezes in this popular online video.   (jimvwmoss (YouTube))

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baseball • animal • endangered species • zoo • panda • birth • animal behavior • reproduction • hermaphrodite


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