National Zoo Panda Cubs: Death Of Smaller Cub Called Devastating, But Officials Vow To Learn From It

The National Zoo said the loss of one of the panda cubs born this week was devastating, but said they will still be able to learn something from the animal’s death.

The newborn cub died Wednesday just three and a half days after it was born. The zoo’s adult female panda, Mei Xiang, had given birth on Saturday evening to her first cub, and then birthed the second one about five hours later.

Though the younger panda cub was smaller, it was still within the normal size range, and National Zoo officials said it appeared to be healthy, the Associated Press reported.

The trouble came this week when Mei Xiang went close to 24 hours without allowing animal keepers to swap the cubs.

That led to a series of problems, the Associated Press noted.

“Caretakers had been concerned about the smaller cub’s fluctuating weight. Animal keepers were feeding the cub using both a bottle and a tube. The zoo said the cub had ‘shown some signs’ of regurgitating the liquids it was being fed, which could lead to the cub inhaling liquid into its lungs. Veterinarians gave the cub antibiotics to prevent a possible infection, the zoo said.

Caretakers were able to give the smaller cub to Mei Xiang around 2 p.m. Tuesday and retrieved it from her Wednesday morning. That’s when keepers became concerned because the cub had not gained weight, appeared weaker and exhibited possible respiratory issues, the zoo said.”

This is not the first time Mei Xiang has lost a cub. She gave birth to a stillborn in 2013, though that same year she also gave birth to a healthy cub, Bao Bao. The previous year she also gave birth to a cub that survived less than one week.

The deaths are not unusual. National Zoo officials said the mortality rate for pandas in their first year of human care is 26 percent for males and 20 percent for females.

“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 zoo officials also said they would vow to learn from the smaller panda cub’s death, the Smithsonian noted. Officials also noted that Mei Xiang is still a great mother to her surviving cubs.

The National Zoo did not announce a cause of death for the smaller of the panda cubs, but said they would be performing a necropsy to learn more.

[Image via Getty Images / Handout]