Panda bear twin cub dies at National Zoo

The National Zoo in Washington D.C. broke the sad news on Wednesday afternoon that one of the panda bear twin cubs being cared for had died.

The Associated Press noted that the smaller of Mei Xiang’s twin cubs died and a necropsy to determine the exact cause of death has been scheduled.

The Washington Post reported that veterinarians worked on the cub for six hours to no avail.

“We kept going, and we kept listening, and then at 2:05, I said, ‘Sorry, guys, we’re done,’ ” the zoo’s chief veterinarian Don Neiffer said.

Zoo officials said the death especially that of an endangered species, is a very hard loss.

The surviving cub, which will be named after 100 days, is with Mei Xiang.

The 17-year-old giant female panda has given birth to six cubs. This was the third to die. One was a stillborn and another died after six days from liver damage. Her offspring named Tai Shan was born in 2005 and now lives in China. The other named Bao Bao was born in 2013 and currently resides at the National Zoo with her.

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