The giant panda cub that was born only a week ago at the National Zoo died Sunday. Zoo officials have said in a press release that the cub was found dead Sunday morning after hearing distress from its mother, Mei Xiang. The cub was born on September 16.
Staffers retrieved the cub and there were no outward signs of trauma or infection on the baby panda. The baby panda was born to Mei Xiang a 14-year-old panda that had already had five failed pregnancies, making the birth a happy surprise.
"This is devastating for all of us here," National Zoo director Dennis Kelly said to press at a news conference. "It's hard to describe how much passion and energy and thought and care has gone into this."
It is quite common for panda cubs to die. When they are born they are very small, with their mother being about 1,000 times heavier than their cubs. The panda was only 4 ounces which is about the size of a stick of butter. Cubs in the past have been accidentally crushed by their mothers. In China this occurred in two different zoos in 2009 and 2010 where mothers accidentally killed their babies while nursing.
The National Zoo's first panda couple, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing came to the zoo from China in 1972 and in the 80s they had five cubs but all of them died within a few days.
The first few weeks in a panda's life are extremely critical. A necropsy is being conducted to determine the cubs cause of death and findings are expected on Monday said Suzan Murary the zoo's chief veterinarian, to The Huffington Post.
She said, "The cub was just beautiful. Beautiful little body, beautiful face, with markings just beginning to show around the eye."
The cub had not been named yet according to Chinese tradition. The baby panda would have been named 100 days after its birth.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
