The heartbroken mother panda at the Nation Zoo clutched a familiar toy for comfort one day after her six-day-old cub died in her arms.
Mei Xiang huddled in her den on Monday, clinging to a rubber 'Kong' in place the baby girl she gave birth to less than a week ago.
The newborn panda had been a welcome surprise for zoo keepers in Washington, D.C. They had tried unsuccessfully to impregnate her on five separate occasions and did not think the 14-year-old Chinese great panda would ever conceive again.
Veterinarians still aren't certain what killed the tiny cub, which was no bigger than a stick of butter. A necropsy revealed that the newborn had an abnormal liver and worrying fluid build-up in its abdomen.
Link video and some more pictures
So sad
