Perhaps the most widely discussed animal news of 2012 was that the National Zoo, for the first time since 2005, successfully impregnated its resident female giant panda, Mei Xiang. And when a panda cub was born in the late hours of September 16, panda lovers rejoiced. But, it wasn’t to last. The cub died just six days later, throwing into sadness the zoo’s many visitors and forcing the zoo’s staff to contemplate the future of Mei Xiang and her companion, Tian Tian. Still, there was plenty of happy animal news in 2012. It should be noted that the panda cub’s death took place in the shadow of new life. In the past year, the National Zoo welcomed newborn cheetahs, gazelles, otters and Andean bear cubs. There were plenty of squee-worthy moments beyond Rock Creek Park. We got up close with Bo, President Obama’s pet Portuguese water dog, and watched in delight when Secret Service agents helped a family of ducklings scamper across Pennsylvania Avenue. And, of course, who could forget the biggest animal appearance of the year, when a certain inflatable fish returned to lord over Silver Spring, Md.? Here are some our most popular animal posts of 2012.
The giant panda cub born September 16 at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo has died, zoo officials said Sunday morning. The six-day-old cub, which was born after its mother, Mei Xiang, was artificially inseminated earlier this year, was pronounced dead about 10:30 a.m.
Staff at the zoo’s panda house heard distressing sounds from Mei Xiang at 9:17 a.m, according to a note on the zoo’s Facebook page. The cub was retrieved about an hour later, but was unresponsive to several resuscitation measures, including CPR.
At the time of its death, the cub weighed under 100 grams, but showed no outward signs of trauma or infection.
The birth of the cub came as a surprise to the National Zoo and the many fans of its pair of giant pandas, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, who since the 2005 birth of Tai Shan, affectionately known as Butterstick, have produced several pseudopregnancies.
The National Zoo is holding a press conference at 1 p.m. to provide more details about the cub’s death.
Tian Tian and Mei Xiang. Photo by RoxandaBear
