The Zoo Took Note: Its Hippo Had Odd Way of Pooping

Japan's Osaka Tennoji Zoo began to notice something seemed off with its hippo based on the way, well, it pooped. As CBS News reports, the zoo had acquired Gen-chan from Mexico's Africa Safari in 2017 when he was 5. "Still a child," as the zoo puts it in a post on its website. But the zoo noticed Gen-chan's behavior skewed from the expected. Male hippos generally rotate their tails (visualize a propeller) while defecating in order to deposit their feces in a wider area to mark their territory, reports AFP. Gen-chen didn't. The hippo also didn't engage in courtship calls. Zoo staff couldn't visually locate any male genitalia. A DNA test confirmed their suspicions: Gen-chan is actually female.

The paperwork involved in the initial transfer of the hippo to Japan made clear the opposite. "We had no doubt," the post states. Gen-chan's name will remain the same, but her paperwork will be updated. "We recognize the importance of reconfirming the sex of introduced animals and will take precautions to ensure that this does not happen again," the post reads. "We will continue to strive to provide a comfortable environment for Gen-chan." (More hippopotamus stories.)