The week-old giant panda cub
that died at the Smithsonian National Zoo last month suffered lung and liver
damage, veterinarians announced Thursday (Oct. 11).
The female cub, born Sept. 16,
likely had an oxygen deficiency from inadequately formed lungs, which would
have affected the newborn's liver function, according to a statement from the
zoo.
Joy turned to heartbreak at
the Washington, D.C., zoo on the morning of Sept. 23 when 14-year-old panda mom
Mei Xiang let out a distress call. Panda keepers found her cub unresponsive and
immediately performed CPR, but they couldn't revive the newborn. The 4-ounce
(100-gram) panda had no outward signs of trauma or infection, zoo officials
said at the time, though they later found abnormalities
in its liver.
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