The giant panda cub born at Ouwehands Dierenpark in 2020 is a girl, not a boy as previously thought, the zoo has said.

‘Fan Xing has surprised us all,’ zoologist José Kok said. ‘We thought she was male to start with but a later medical control showed she was, in fact, female.’

Kok explained that the initial check had to be done quickly so as not to separate mother and cub for too long. ‘It is notoriously difficult to establish the sex of a panda,’ she said.

Fan Xing is part of a panda breeding programme and that will not change, the zoo management said, except Fan Xing will have more of an active role. Fan Xing is due to return to China in the near future.

On Saturday at 7pm NPO1 will broad ‘Het echte leven in de dierentuin’ (real life at the zoo) on Saturday which features Fan Xing’s progress so far.