For eight months, caregivers at the Carson Springs Wildlife Conservation Foundation have taken care of what they thought was a female Eurasian lynx.
But after now-9-month-old Zena went through a physical exam with a veterinarian last month, Christine Janks and Barry Janks, founders of the northwest Gainesville sanctuary, located at 8528 E. County Road 225, made a surprising discovery about the feline: she is actually a he.
Christine Janks said a week after Zee was born, caregivers had trouble determining his gender because his mother was protecting him.
As Zee lived on the sanctuary, Christine Janks said the lynx’s sex was never questioned by caregivers.
“We all assumed Zee was a female as he got older, and lots of fur covered his private parts,” she said.
Christine Janks renamed Zena to Zee after they determined the feline was actually born a male.
Dana Johnson, a 27-year-old UF biology senior and volunteer at the sanctuary, said she helped raise Zee, and took care of him when he was sick.
Johnson said she wasn’t bothered by the gender mix-up.
“It was more humorous than anything negative,” she said.
The workers at Carson Springs Wildlife Conservation Foundation recently discovered that Zena, an Eurasian lynx, is actually male.
