User blog comment:Kogath/Monster Hunter X Discussion/@comment-6050823-20160212045248/@comment-5172919-20160212192040

Heh, I suspect they chose the gender based on the fact that everyone thought Tama were all female, so they inversed it. However, it does make sense. Male animals in the wild are more often than not more brightly colored than females as to distract predators away from nests, attract females, or show when it is breeding season while the females have duller colors in order to camoflauge and hide themselves and their nests. It just so happens to be that Tama have a pink color, like salmon.