Top Panda Star Revealed to be Female After Years of being a ‘Dude’

In an unexpected twist that has captured the hearts of netizens, “He Ye,” a giant panda known as a “brother” star attraction for over three years, was revealed to be female. This revelation from the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base has taken the internet by storm, climbing to the top of trending searches.

Through a post on its WeChat public account, the Research Base shared a video where a caretaker, affectionately known as ‘Grandpa Tan,’ disclosed the results of a recent expert assessment. “He Ye” and her sibling “He Hua” are, in fact, sisters. This gender correction has left many followers of “He Ye” bewildered and amused.

Grandpa Tan explained that determining the gender of pandas can be quite complex. When Heye was born, her features leaned male, but the male traits became less distinct as she grew older. Experts then collected biological samples, which showed Heye is female.

This is not the first instance of gender confusion among pandas. “He Ye’s” father, “Mei Lan,” was also initially mistaken for a female.

Experts say giant pandas are among the hardest mammals to identify gender for when young. Traditional methods like observing physical reproductive organ differences often don’t work well for panda cubs until they are three to four years old. More reliable methods involve blood tests and other biological analyses, which are now routinely done to conclusively determine gender.

China’s Landmark Ruling: Using Social Media for Work-Related Communication Deemed Overtime

According to China’s Workers’ Daily report on January 24, for the first time, Chinese courts have officially recognized the act of engaging in substantive work using chat software after regular working hours as overtime.

The case involved a plaintiff named Ms Li, who had been working at a technology company. Ms Li argued that her communication and interactions with clients and colleagues on social media after office hours should also be considered overtime work, submitted WeChat chat records and the “Official Duty Roster for Holiday Community” files as evidence. However, the defendant company contended that since Ms Li was the head of the operations department, any calls she received from employees or clients after work hours should not be classified as overtime.

In the subsequent appeal, Judge Zheng Jizhe of the Beijing Third Intermediate People’s Court pointed out that the use of social media for work-related purposes after regular working hours and on holidays went beyond mere communication. The nature of the work involved had characteristics of periodicity and fixity, differentiating it from occasional and incidental communication. This reflected the employer’s labour management practices, leading to the conclusion that it should be recognized as overtime. As a result, the court ordered the company to pay Ms. Li a sum of 30,000 yuan ($4,651) as compensation.

Kou Fang, the President of the Beijing High People’s Court, stated that this ruling establishes clear criteria for identifying “invisible overtime” and safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of workers in the digital era.