Newborn US twin panda dies

One of two panda cubs born at Washington's National Zoo at the weekend has died.

Zoo keeper Stacey Tabellario bottle feeding the smaller of the two giant panda cubs at the zoo in Washington. The zoo said the smaller Giant Panda cub died Wednesday after three and a half days. (AAP)

Zoo keeper Stacey Tabellario bottle feeding the smaller of the two giant panda cubs at the zoo in Washington. The zoo said the smaller Giant Panda cub died Wednesday after three and a half days. (AAP) Source: AAP

Washington's National Zoo says one of its two newborn panda cubs has died just three and a half days after being born.

The zoo said the remaining cub, the larger of the two born on Saturday, appears to be strong, robust and behaving normally, and remains with its mother, Mei Xiang.

This isn't the first time that Mei Xiang has lost a cub.
A second, stillborn cub was also born in 2013, and in 2012, she gave birth to a cub that died after just six days.

But Mei Xiang does have two other surviving cubs. The first, Tai Shan, was born in 2005, and the second, Bao Bao, turned two years old on Sunday.

The National Zoo is one of only four zoos nationwide to have pandas, which are on loan from China.

The zoo's first pair of pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, were a gift from China following President Richard Nixon's historic 1972 visit to the country. The pair had five cubs while living at the zoo, but none survived.
The zoo's current pandas, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, arrived in 2000.

The pair's first cub, Tai Shan, returned to China in 2010, while their second cub, Bao Bao, still lives at the National Zoo.

The latest birth meant that for the first time the zoo briefly had five pandas: Bao Bao, Mei Xiang, the twin cubs and Tian Tian.

Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world