Giant panda cub dies at Washington National Zoo

[greatauntoftriplets]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The giant panda cub born at the National Zoo just one week ago died on Sunday, zoo officials said.

While the exact cause of the baby panda's death is yet to be determined, zoo officials said the cub, which weighed just under 100 grams (about 3.5 ounces), was in good body condition and that there were no outward signs of trauma or infection.

The cub's death was discovered Sunday morning after panda keepers and zoo volunteers heard a distress vocalization from its mother, Mei Xiang.

The panda cam that allowed the public to watch the baby and its mother over the Internet was turned off and zoo staff retrieved the body for evaluation.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-panda-cubbre88m0c1-20120923,0,624219.story

[femmocrat]

1. That is so sad.....

the poor mama has had problems conceiving in the past, I think.

[RiffRandell]

2. I was so sad when I read this.

Breaks my heart.

[nolabear]

3. Such delicate little things. Not well suited to this difficult world.

Pandas are never the world's best reproducers and we've used up so much of their world. Now we try to keep them going for us, because we can't stand the thought of a world without them. There's something heartbreaking about that.

[BlueJazz]

4. Poor mama. Rats !

[rurallib]

5. so sad

[Alduin]

6. Awwww.

So sad.

[HopeHoops]

7. Yeah, I saw that in today's paper. The mother was crying.