The Smithsonian’s National Zoo announced Wednesday that the smaller of the two panda cubs born over the weekend had died.
The cub’s health had been in jeopardy for several days, particularly the last 48 hours, after its mother, Mei Xiang, refused to give up the larger of the two cubs to care for it.
The zoo announced that the baby panda died shortly after 2 p.m. Eastern time.
“The larger cub appears to be strong, robust, behaving normally and is with mother Mei Xiang,” the zoo added in a brief statement, which promised more information later in the afternoon.