Sad news from The National Zoo, Washington, DC:
The giant panda cub born to Mei Xiang on 16 September 2012 has died.
From the Smithsonian National Zoological Park’s website:
“SEPTEMBER 23
We are brokenhearted to share that we have lost our little giant panda cub. Panda keepers and volunteers heard Mei Xiang make a distress vocalization at 9:17 a.m. and let the veterinarian staff know immediately. They turned off the panda cam and were able to safely retrieve the cub for an evaluation at 10:22 a.m., which we only do in situations of gravest concern. The veterinarians immediately performed CPR and other life-saving measures, but sadly the cub was unresponsive. We’ll have more updates as we learn more, but right now we know is that the cub weighed just under 100 grams and that there was no outward sign of trauma or infection. We’ll share information with you as we learn more.”
Amidst the various articles resulting from the official announcement was this reflection on the cub’s death:
Remembering a panda cub we barely knew
And in the piece, this paragraph stood out:
One detail was especially sorrowful: It was Mei Xiang’s “distress vocalization” that prompted keepers to check on the newborn. She knew something was wrong.
