The National Zoo confirmed on Wednesday that the smaller of two panda cubs born on Saturday to Giant Panda Mei Xiang has died. It was four days old.
While it initially appeared "healthy," the cub struggled to get care from its mother, which focused primarily on the healthier, older sibling.
We can confirm a second cub was born at 10:07. It appears healthy. #PandaStory pic.twitter.com/MH0kmQ32kk— National Zoo (@NationalZoo) August 23, 2015
Zookeepers had attempted to "swap cubs" but were unable to do so. As of Tuesday afternoon, the zoo tweeted that its behaviors were "good" though it was "still high-risk time."
Haven’t been able to swap cubs since 2p 8/24.Mei has larger cub.Smaller cub’s behaviors are good;still high-risk time pic.twitter.com/FrEG2lYfEz— National Zoo (@NationalZoo) August 25, 2015
The zoo's "panda team" grew concerned by its fluctuating weight and resorted to bottle feeding, ABC News reported, as well as giving it antibiotics and electrolytes.
If both cubs had survived, they would have been the 17-year-old panda's third and fourth surviving offspring. This isn't the first time that Mei Xiang has lost a cub. A stillborn cub was born in 2013. And in 2012, Mei Xiang gave birth to a cub that died after just six days.
Mei Xiang has two other surviving cubs born in 2005 and 2013.
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Editor's note: An earlier version of this story said the cubs were born on Sunday. They were born on Saturday.