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Panda breeding in China fails after Mei Lan from US is found to be male on Astini News

Last updated at 3:10 AM on 24th September 2011

A quest to breed a panda in China didn't go as planned after the female panda sent by an Atlanta zoo turned out to be a male.

Mei Lan was born at Zoo Atlanta in 2006 and last year returned to China, where the mammal's parents - Lun Lun and Yang Yang - were born.

Zoo Atlanta staff and a researcher from the Chengdu Research Base in China where Mei Lan now lives examined the panda 19 days after its birth and determined it was a female, said Rebecca Snyder, curator of mammals at Zoo Atlanta.

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Dude looks like a lady: Researchers in China recently noticed male reproductive organs and determined that Mei Lan, now five years old, is actually a male

Dude looks like a lady: Researchers in China recently noticed male reproductive organs and determined that Mei Lan, now five years old, is actually a male

But researchers at the centre recently noticed male reproductive organs and determined that Mei Lan, now five years old, is actually a male.

Classifying a panda as male or female may seem like a no-brainer, but Ms Snyder said it's not as easy as one might think.

Generally, the Chinese try to examine cubs within a day or two of their birth because they're slightly dehydrated and have less fur, which makes a close examination of the genital area easier, she said.

'With Mei Lan we waited quite a while before we took him the first time because that was Lun Lun's first cub and she was doing a really good job taking care of him and we didn't want to risk disrupting her behaviour,' Snyder said.

Love cub: Mei Lan, right, was born at Zoo Atlanta in 2006 and last year returned to China, where his parents - Lun Lun, left, and Yang Yang - were born

Love cub: Mei Lan, right, was born at Zoo Atlanta in 2006 and last year returned to China, where his parents - Lun Lun, left, and Yang Yang - were born

'So we waited until Lun Lun was leaving him regularly before we did the first exam.'

But by that time, Mei Lan had become hairier and plumper and made the panda's genitalia much more difficult to define as male or female.

A male panda's testes generally descend after he's 3 years old, but before that there are few obvious signs of gender, Snyder said.

That happened in Mei Lan after he had departed for China in February 2010.

Panda watch: Despite the change in gender, the plans for Mei Lan will not change

Panda watch: Despite the change in gender, the plans for Mei Lan will not change

Snyder said she's not aware of any name change planned for Mei Lan, whose name means 'Atlanta Beauty.'

Despite the change in gender, the plans for Mei Lan will not change.

Zoo Atlanta's agreement with China requires that pandas be returned at 3 years old, and Mei Lan would still have gone to the same facility where he now lives.

'He's still valuable genetically,' Snyder said. 'He'll just be a dad now instead of a mom.'

Mei Lan was the first of three male cubs born so far to Lun Lun and Yang Yang. Xi Lan was born in 2008 and Po was born last year.

Staffers at Zoo Atlanta told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that they will recheck the sexes of Xi Lan and Po during their next exams.

Panda star: Mei Lan was born at Zoo Atlanta in 2006 and last year returned to China, where his parents came from

Panda star: Mei Lan was born at Zoo Atlanta in 2006 and last year returned to China, where his parents came from

 

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