Mei Xiang (Photo via National Zoo)

In what may be the saddest press release ever composed about an animal, the National Zoo announced late last night that its giant female panda gave birth to a stillborn cub.

Mei Xiang gave birth to the second cub Saturday night, a day after she welcomed a live cub to much fanfare. Knowing that the world demands details about all things panda, the Zoo provided all the depressing facts.

Keepers watching Mei on the panda cam saw her groom it for 17 minutes. When she stopped grooming, it fell from Mei’s body onto the floor of the den. It lay motionless and made no sound.

It gets sadder.

Staff retrieved the motionless cub with a grabbing device. It was immediately evident that the cub had developmental abnormalities and wasn’t fully formed. It was never alive.

Yeah. A necropsy will be done and more information will be provided this morning. The live cub, Butterstick II, is still doing well, and zookeepers are “cautiously optimistic” about its health.