Newborn panda cub dies at US zoo

Washington’s National Zoo said one of its two newborn panda cubs died yesterday after three-and-a-half days.

The zoo’s adult female panda, Mei Xiang, gave birth to the first cub on Saturday at 5.35pm and a second cub about five hours later.

Had both cubs survived, they would have been the 17-year-old panda’s third and fourth surviving offspring.

The zoo said the remaining cub, the larger of the two, appears to be strong, robust, and behaving normally. The surviving cub remains with its mother.

The zoo did not immediately announce the cause of the smaller cub’s death, but said it would perform a necropsy, the equivalent of a human autopsy.

“This is a hard loss for us,” said zoo director Dennis Kelly during a press conference at the zoo. “It’s really hard to keep these creatures thriving.” But Kelly said “every birth is a success” when you are dealing with an endangered species.

Nothing was obviously wrong with the cub that died, and the zoo doesn’t know if it was born with problems, said associate director for animal care sciences Brandie Smith. Despite its small size, the cub was still in the normal size range for cubs that have survived, she said.