U.S. National Zoo mourns the death of giant panda cub, just eight days after it was born $ F, V+ R6 ]1 L9 L% cos.tvboxnow.comos.tvboxnow.com4 p( J$ V. K! X& r: W
The giant panda cub born a week ago at the National Zoo in Washington has died. o) C' u+ E) e( w( ^6 W) Yos.tvboxnow.com" C1 v' G( P; }: R
Zoo officials said in a press release that the cub was found dead on Sunday morning after panda keepers heard sounds of distress from its mother, Mei Xiang. 6 y( ` d. w6 U2 \os.tvboxnow.com公仔箱論壇. _8 f; F* m5 |
Staffers were able to retrieve the cub about an hour later. The cub appeared to be in good condition, and there were no outward signs of trauma or infection. 3 E8 t: a Y+ x% i: k0 P0 [It was not immediately clear what had cause its death. " ?$ P" }2 y4 ~0 P* Y4 ]( @$ wTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。 # P5 z6 J5 M8 ]9 j6 v& k' l5 v公仔箱論壇 7 w5 D! ^/ |9 F6 ?* J- q" I! o$ O/ Y, S公仔箱論壇Mother: Mei Xiang gave birth Sunday at 10:46 p.m. She is pictured in a Dec. 19, 2011 file photo ) _' ?5 M7 A+ E2 u! W # P5 R4 e$ M: K6 w4 K) d8 pThe cub had been a surprise at the zoo. Fourteen-year-old Mei Xiang had five failed pregnancies before giving birth, and only one panda cub has survived at the zoo in the past.! \7 {* S1 i+ r$ m
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Panda cubs are born about the size ofa stick of butter and are delicate infants. Panda mothers are about 1,000 times heavier than their cubs, which are born with their eyes closed. : p6 Y; y6 V) ?- H
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The delicate cubs have died in the past when accidentally crushed by mom. That happened in two different zoos in China in 2009 and 2010 when mothers killed their young while attempting to nurse.公仔箱論壇9 F4 V/ @) M8 |8 i: P# D
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The zoo's first panda couple, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing, arrived from China in 1972 and had five cubs during the 1980s, but none lived more than a few days. 5 Z+ s( t# f7 s# G+ }
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One of the cubs was stillborn, two others died of pneumonia within a day, another died from lack of oxygen after birth, and the final cub died of an infection after four days.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb8 j2 h, G U/ j3 w
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Panda experts have said the first weeks of life are critical for the panda cubs as mothers have to make sure they stay warm and get enough to eat.6 J6 Y2 z! i4 F8 a6 {
: h) V2 O9 X; P! V 8 W6 j" ]4 a& M9 d w! m, RTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。Sad news: Dennis W. Kelly (L), Director of the Smithsonian's National Zoo, and Suzan Murray (R), chief veterinarian of Smithsonian's National Zoo talk about the sudden death of the baby panda cub during a press conference; P0 p3 O& o/ T) m3 \7 u
) h' }9 U1 O# J9 o' t) a ( F( Y* _" b6 SThe panda died just eight days after it was born 7 C9 u9 Z) P! [, P4 wtvb now,tvbnow,bttvb 1 E) K7 Y+ k, B v'It's kind of a nerve-racking period for the folks that are monitoring mom and cub,' Rebecca Snyder, the curator of mammals at Atlanta's zoo, said last week. Atlanta is one of only two other American zoos to have had cubs. 0 ?- E1 k7 K& r公仔箱論壇 % C0 R' k4 g* }( `) W1 J3 i3 fos.tvboxnow.comAtlanta has had three cubs, and the San Diego zoo has had six, including a cub born this year. A panda couple in Memphis has yet to have a cub, despite several tries. No otherU.S. zoos have pandas. . w1 X6 [0 X( I2 ?7 R9 O+ F' ?. {' V c; M3 D9 {4 J
The cub had not yet been named in accordance with Chinese tradition - it was to receive a name after 100 days on Dec. 24. Had the cub survived until then, it would have been roughly the size of a loaf of bread and weighed around 10 pounds. + p/ o3 T6 F) o公仔箱論壇' R" [) B5 f# r$ C0 v, i
Mei Xiang gave birth Sunday at 10:46 p.m., the zoo said. The staff could hear the cub, but were unable to immediately see it because Mei Xiang has built a large nest in her den. 6 ^( h; s5 i9 L: ^7 _公仔箱論壇 / }3 m B7 K# S% ^In a news release, Dennis Kelly, the zoo's director, said he was thrilled. 'I'm cautiously optimistic as we haven't seen the cub yet, but we know that Mei is a good mother,' Kelly said.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb2 b. l) [7 |/ h6 c) j! D/ r # i5 v) n% _- p; Y! zWatch: Dennis Kelly, the zoo's director, monitor's Mei via the panda cam . j! H; Y( [/ T& ?3 u: F/ Rtvb now,tvbnow,bttvb 7 _( D5 q( u5 |4 G/ Q( \tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb % M: l" g+ X& p6 w, ]公仔箱論壇Yummy: Mei is rewarded with honey water when she participates in an ultrasound earlier in September TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。3 [- ^ }1 K" N$ r ]
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Careful: The staff found the dead cub after hearing distress calls coming from Mei Xiang 4 j0 T0 x5 W* [9 N2 t1 P: [2 l3 O# z; B
The cub was the second born to Mei Xiang and Tian Tian as the result of artificial insemination. - @# j: c' e8 ?) m5 I5 Q7 b! `TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。'Mei Xiang is behaving exactly the same way she did when Tai Shan was born,' Chief Veterinarian Suzan Murray said.公仔箱論壇; b& D4 z8 o* r
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'Sheis cradling her cub closely, and she looks so tired, but every time shetries to lay down, the cub squawks and she sits right up and cradles the cub more closely.'- d8 Q: I2 ~9 E/ L q
She continued: 'She is the poster child for a perfect panda mom.' 9 \8 |+ U, ^8 m9 q( _os.tvboxnow.com3 r P0 L3 A: R' B/ x6 T
For the past several months, the panda house was closed to visitors so Mei could rest. She was especially sensitive noise, so her doctors kept a quiet watch on the soon-to-be mother.% C1 G) A4 l5 h. r
) K8 m* R0 ?" c+ v5 d dos.tvboxnow.comShe worked feverishly on building her nest for her newborn, shredding bamboo and cradling her toy as she waited for the baby.os.tvboxnow.com$ N5 h% E* [% s/ e4 l* Q8 K9 s
$ ^0 z M, q2 w* e0 e2 G '[Mei] is cradling her cub closely, and shelooks so tired, but every time she tries to lay down, the cub squawks and she sits right up and cradles the cub more closely.' ; a( M u" k& v0 S3 g3 r' gtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbChief Veterinarian Suzan Murray1 R6 D, L+ E1 Z5 [/ `6 }' b
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Veterinarians tried to give her an ultrasound during this time, as they were unsure if she was pregnant. She was artificially inseminated in April and on average, panda pregnancies last 90-160 days.公仔箱論壇/ @/ P ~ a5 w
& [9 g* K& w ]! D& c7 k- ~4 L' Btvb now,tvbnow,bttvbMei Xiang has had five consecutive pseudopregnancies since 2007 and had a less than a 10 per cent chance of being pregnant after so many failed attempts. 9 v& b. a6 q) o8 t! xtvb now,tvbnow,bttvb * G. q/ D! q0 L0 o: |) \4 n/ Ptvb now,tvbnow,bttvbFemale giant pandas behave the same way if they are pregnant or not, according to the Zoo's website. 0 l( I4 U" S' W6 J# N: `2 a: ?tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb ( u1 }% x+ |) X% E1 b) a. M wUnlike humans, doctors cannot determine if a female panda is pregnant by analyzing her hormones. + v6 Q# f0 f( p; m; N( ?( ctvb now,tvbnow,bttvb " ^4 F+ x; Q% o3 mTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。 1 F4 F, Z) t7 ]$ c% U公仔箱論壇Preparing: For the past several months, the panda house was closed to visitors so Mei could rest! v, R3 Q% a$ O& S1 U$ C$ o! v
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Conception: She was artificially inseminated in April and on average, panda pregnancies last 90-160 days ' T8 p5 T; _2 T, p( Atvb now,tvbnow,bttvb : S3 @; ^$ O8 G+ L- ETVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。During a pseudopregnancy a female giant panda’s hormones and behavior are identical to a pregnancy, but she never conceives a cub. + E( `1 W1 U3 \9 sTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。os.tvboxnow.com; }) H; L2 d2 v( `/ {# w
What Mei Xiang’s hormones can predict, however, is when we can expect the birth of a cub, or the end of a pseudopregnancy.
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