Newborn Giant Panda Cub Passes Away at National Zoo

In this image capture taken Thursday, the cub can be seen on its mother's arm.
Courtesy Smithsonian's National Zoo

Washington, DC, USA (September 23, 2012) -- A giant panda cub born at the Smithsonian's National Zoo last weekend was discovered dead this morning by zookeepers.  The Zoo released the following message at Noon today on its facebook page:

We are broken-hearted to share that we have lost our little giant panda cub. Panda keepers and volunteers heard Mei Xiang make a distress vocalization at 9:17 a.m. and let the veterinarian staff know immediately. They turned off the panda cam and were able to safely retrieve the cub for an evaluation at 10:22 a.m., which we only do in situations of gravest concern. The veterinarians immediately performed CPR and other life-saving measures, but sadly the cub was unresponsive. We'll have more updates as we learn more, but right now we know is that the cub weighed just under 100 grams and that there was no outward sign of trauma or infection. We'll share information with you as we learn more.