Washington panda dies

Her chances of conceiving were believed to be less than 10 percent, the zoo said in a statement. In accordance with Chinese tradition, pandas are not named for days. Zoo officials said the cub was in healthy condition, with no outward sign of trauma or infection. The last sign of life was a grunt logged by zookeepers around 9 a. Kelly said. Zoo officials said that they were monitoring Mei Xiang and that she appeared to be calm and was resting.

They would not speculate on the likelihood of her becoming pregnant again. Prior to its death, the cub had stopped gaining weight and was only Neiffer noted that newborn cubs are extremely fragile and that the cause of death would not be known for sure until an autopsy is performed in the next few weeks.

In a statement, the zoo reported the larger cub showed "encouraging signs," but that they are monitoring it and its mother around the clock "as the cub is still vulnerable and the risk remains high. Only one of the 3 sets of panda twins born in the United States has survived and zoo officials noted last week that in the wild one twin is usually left to die as it would be too hard on the mother's body to care for both simultaneously.

Neiffer said that Mei Xiang, who had given birth to two other healthy cubs prior to this weekend, is "a very good mother," but that she had "some challenges handling both cubs. But jonmladd reasoned, "Nature is brutal. Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, added, "Let's say you just roll over because she's tired maybe. Something could happen there or she could maybe pick it up wrong. I mean, the numerous things that could happen are insurmountable.

Breeding pandas is also difficult. Mei Xiang had five failed pregnancies before becoming pregnant, most recently through artificial insemination. Hanna says the National Zoo might have better success with a new panda from China. Hanna said, "If it was me and I was head of the zoo, I would ask for another panda because time is critical. Time is of essence with these species.

Experts like Hanna say large-scale panda breeding programs are vital to the species' survival. They're some of the most endangered animals in the world.