14 DAY TRIAL // Just a few days ago, we reported that a baby giant panda was born in one of Tokyo's zoos. At that time, it seemed that things were finally looking up for this endangered species.
However, we now regret to inform you that, unfortunately, the cub got sick with pneumonia soon after his birth and died after having lived for just one short week.
Seeing how this baby panda was the first born at the Ueno zoo after 24 years of continuously striving to breed this species in captivity, it is no wonder that both zoo employees and conservationists worldwide grieve at the news of its being now dead.
Whereas up until this sad event Japanese news programs took the time to report on the baby giant panda's activities on a daily basis, they now saw themselves forced to interrupt all regular programming in sign of mourning.
Raw Story reports that zoo director Toshimitsu Doi told the press that both he and zoo employees are “very disappointed” by how things eventually turned out, and that Japan's prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, also described the cub's death as being “very disappointing.”
People in China also expressed their most sincere regrets, seeing how the baby panda's parents originally came from this country and were only sent to Japan as part of on-going efforts to save this species from extinction by means of international breeding programs.
Thus, as a spokesman for the Chinese people, Liu Weimin talked about how, “We lament the loss of the cub and believe that the Japanese people, who have been looking forward to seeing the cub, will also lament this loss.”
With only 1,600 giant pandas still living in the wild and just 300 presently taken care of in captivity in zoos around the world, it is no wonder that the death of the 144-gram cub caused such sorrow.