The first baby giant panda born at Japan’s oldest zoo in nearly a quarter century died of pneumonia Wednesday just six days after its celebrated arrival.
Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo said that the unnamed male cub spent the night with its mother ─ Shin Shin ─ and that its cries could be heard at 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
Less than an hour later, staff found the cub face up on Shin Shin’s chest in a state of cardiac arrest. The cub was put in an incubator and given a heart massage, but was pronounced dead at 8:30 a.m. Ueno Zoo director Toshimitsu Doi told reporters the cub caught pneumonia after the mother’s milk got into its lungs.
The birth on July 5th of the zoo’s first baby panda for 24 years and its progress during its first few days of life attracted broad news coverage in Japan.
National broadcaster NHK ran breaking news headlines over its normal programming to announce the birth, and death, of the cub, while newspapers gave daily updates on the cub’s milk intake and published front-page photos of Shin Shin cradling the pinkish newborn ─ weighing a mere 133 grams at birth.
Seven-year-old Shin Shin, on loan from China, appeared to be attentive towards her baby on the first day, nursing it frequently. But she seemed to tire of her maternal responsibilities by the next night, leaving the cub and wandering off to eat bamboo shoots.
Zoo staff alternated between moving the cub from an incubator to Shin Shin’s side while gauging the mother’s interest. On Monday evening they returned the cub to an incubator due to concerns that it was not getting enough food, before placing it once more by Shin Shin’s side on Tuesday.
Around 60-70% of baby giant pandas die within their first week, zoo officials said at a press conference. A panda expert visiting from China, who was on site when the baby was discovered, said that the same thing frequently happens in China, zoo officials said.
日本最古老的动物园在近四分之一世纪的时间里诞生的首只熊猫幼崽周三因肺炎夭折。这一天距其备受瞩目的出生日仅过去了六天。
东京上野动物园(Ueno Zoo)表示，这只还没有起名字的雄性熊猫幼崽死前一个晚上和它的母亲熊猫真真待在一起。周三上午6点45分动物园的工作人员还听到了这只幼崽的叫声。
不到一个小时后，工作人员发现这只熊猫幼崽脸庞朝上躺在真真的怀里，心脏已经停止了跳动。工作人员将这只幼崽放入保育箱，同时对它进行心脏按摩。到上午8点30分动物园宣布幼崽死亡。上野动物园园长土居利光(Toshimitsu Doi)告诉记者，在真真的乳汁进入其肺部后这只幼崽患上了肺炎。
7月5日出生的这只幼崽是上野动物园24年来出生的首只熊猫宝宝，其出生后头几天的状况吸引了日本媒体的广泛报道。
日本广播公司(NHK)在其日常节目播出期间曾对熊猫幼崽的出生和死亡做突发新闻报道。日本国内多家报纸则对幼崽的母乳摄入量做每日更新。报纸还在头版刊出真真怀抱粉红色新生幼崽的照片。这只幼崽出生时的重量仅有133克。
7岁大的真真是上野动物园从中国借来的。在熊猫幼崽出生的第一天，真真看上去对自己的孩子非常留心，经常照顾它。但到了第二天晚上真真似乎就对自己做母亲的责任感到厌烦了：它把幼崽独自丢下，一个人跑去吃竹子。
动物园的工作人员只好在观察真真对于尽母亲一职的“兴趣”有多大的同时将幼崽在保育箱和真真身边交替转移。周一晚上工作人员将幼崽送到保育箱中，因为他们担心幼崽的进食量不够。周二工作人员再一次将幼崽送到真真身旁。
上野动物园负责人在一场新闻发布会上说，大约有60%到70%的熊猫幼崽在出生的第一周内夭折。动物园负责人说，一位从中国到日本访问的熊猫专家也说，熊猫幼崽夭折的事情也常在中国发生。这只熊猫幼崽出生时这位中国专家也在现场。 |
