Zoo Atlanta staff and a researcher from the panda research center in China where Mei Lan now lives examined the panda 19 days after its birth and determined the panda was female, said Rebecca Snyder, curator of mammals at Zoo Atlanta. But researchers in China recently noticed male reproductive organ
"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 behavior," Snyder said. "So we waited until Lun Lun was leaving him regularly before we did th
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.
Snyder said she's not aware of any name change planned for Mei Lan, whose name means "Atlanta Beauty." Plans for Mei Lan wouldn't have been any different had they known he was male Zoo Atlanta's agreement with China requires that pandas be returned at 3 years old, and Mei Lan would still have gone
