A panda has finally settled questions about its gender after giving birth to twin female cubs in China, the Shanghai Daily reported on Friday.

According to the newspaper, the 11-year-old panda named Jinzhu gave birth to twins on Monday at the Wolong Nature Reserve for Giant Pandas in the southwestern province of Sichuan. The cubs, which were born one hour apart, weighed 190 and 70 grams (6.7 and 2.5 ounces).

The cubs survived the first three days, a time experts consider as critical for such newly-born animal. Jinzhu, which suffered serious bleeding during delivery, also has recovered on Wednesday and has breast-fed one of the cubs. The other cub had been placed in an incubator and is fed through bottle.

An official of the panda reserve said Jinzhu was classified as a male after its birth in August 1996 because its organ was inconspicuous. In December 2000, the panda was sent to Japan to mate with a female panda. It was later found to have no penis.

When Jinzhu was returned to China in December 2002, Chinese experts thought the panda was hermaphroditic while others believe its sexual organs were underdeveloped.

In 2005, veterinarians who examined Jinzhu learned that its ovaries were in the wrong place and corrected this in an operation. Jinzhu then mated with a male in March 2007.