"We recognize the importance of reconfirming the sex of introduced animals, and will take precautions to ensure that this does not happen again," said the zoo
Hippopotamus named Gen-chan failed to exhibit typical behaviours associated with males like jaw-to-jaw sparring and territorial displays when in water.
The zoo revealed that Gen-Chan failed to exhibit typical male-hippo behaviours like jaw-to-jaw sparring and territorial displays when in water, which made them question more about its gender identity.
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.