Photo by Dan Dan the Binary Man
The death Sunday morning of a six-day-old giant panda cub is “devastating,” Dennis Kelly, the director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, told reporters hours after the newborn bear was found dead.
The cub, which was born late on the evening of September 16, was found unresponsive inside the zoo’s Panda House at 10:22 a.m. this morning, about an hour after its mother, Mei Xiang, let out an audible honk, indicating to the zoo’s staff that something was amiss. As viewed on the the zoo’s live video stream—”panda cam”—the cub last produced its signature squeaking sound at 8:53 a.m., a zoo spokeswoman said.
Mei Xiang gave birth about four-and-a-half months after she was artificially inseminated using “vintage sperm” collected in 2005 from the zoo’s male panda, Tian Tian. After several years of failed breeding procedures and pseudopregnancies, the birth last week came as a pleasant surprise to the zoo’s staff and the numerous panda fans who visit Washington each year hoping to catch a glimpse of the photogenic creatures.
“It was on our itinerary,” said Kathryn DeWitt, who was visiting the zoo from Grand Rapids, Mich., along with her extended family.
Jackie Meadows, visiting for the day with her husband and their granddaughter from South Boston, Va. about 215 miles south of Washington, was saddened to hear about the cub’s death. Meadows said she last visited the National Zoo in 2005, when Mei Xiang and Tian Tian’s first cub, Tai Shan—affectionately known as “Butterstick”—was born.
“Our granddaughter loves pandas,” Meadows said, as Tian Tian scurried across the back of the panda habitat.
Zoo officials said that while the cub showed no outward signs of trauma or infection when it was pronounced dead at 10:28 a.m., the cause of death will not be known until Monday morning, when results of a necropsy are revealed. John Roberts, the zoo’s veterinary pathologist, will conduct the post-mortem examination later Sunday.
One of the first calls the National Zoo made upon the cub’s death was to panda researcher’s in China, which officially owns the 266 giant pandas that live in captivity around the world. (Twenty-seven are kept in facilites outside China.)
“They share our grief,” Suzan Murray, the zoo’s head veterinarian said.
The zoo’s panda keepers attempted several methods in resuscitating the cub, including CPR, Murray said. Mei Xiang had not eaten in the week since the cub’s birth but had been drinking water, a diet Murray said is consistent for giant pandas after giving birth.
It took about an hour to retrieve the cub after Mei Xiang’s initial welp because of the safety procedures required in entering the pandas’ den. Mei Xiang was distracted with a dish of honey-infused water, Murray said. The cub was collected at 10:22. Six minutes later, the call was official.
Female giant pandas are fertile only once a year, in Mei Xiang’s case, usually in early spring. As they are owned by the People’s Republic of China, the National Zoo’s pandas are effectively rented, with their stays in the United States set to expire in 2015. But attempting another pregnancy in March or April 2013 is not something the zoo’s leaders are focusing on just yet.
Pamela Baker-Masson, the zoo’s assistant director of communications, said that with the cub’s expected public debut next January or February would have provided the zoo with a bounce in visitors at a normally lean part of the calendar.
“This is a big loss,” she said. “When we lose an animal, it’s a big deal.”
More so, when it’s a giant panda.
