The unnamed, week-old giant panda cub at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., has died. On Sunday, after hearing sounds of distress coming from the cub鈥檚 mother, 14-year-old Mei Xiang, staff members worked for over an hour to retrieve the cub, which they found to be unresponsive. Veterinarians attempted to revive the cub, only to pronounce it dead six minutes after retrieval. It showed no outward signs of illness, according to officials. The cub, unnamed in keeping with , was born on September 16 by artificial insemination. Mei Xiang had failed in her previous five pregnancy attempts since 2007, and her chances of having another successful pregnancy were believed to be around 10 percent. The father was 15-year-old Tian Tian. 鈥淭hese bears are so critically endangered that every cub is important,鈥 said Dennis Kelly, the zoo鈥檚 director. 鈥淭his is devastating for all of us here.鈥
Via