The death of the National Zoo's week-old giant panda cub: What went wrong?

Celebration turned to mourning Sunday when the Washington, D.C., zoo's 6-day-old panda cub suddenly died

Tian Tian, the National Zoo's 275-male giant panda moves around his enclosure Sept 24, the day after the death of a six-day-old panda cub.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

A week ago, officials at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., joyfully announced the birth of a cub delivered by Mei Xiang, the zoo's 14-year-old female giant panda. It was her second successful pregnancy in seven years with her mate, 15-year-old Tian Tian. The celebration was brief, however. On Sunday, the tiny cub, which had yet to receive its own name, died. "The loss, there's no other word for it," says National Zoo Director Dennis Kelly. "It's just devastating." What went wrong? Here, a brief guide to how jubilation turned to grief:

What killed the cub?

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