Current Event:

The panda cub born at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., died just one week after its birth, zoo officials announced. A preliminary examination found that the cub had high levels of fluid in her abdomen and irregularities in her liver. But zoo officials cautioned that these conditions may not have caused the cub’s death.

The giant panda commonly weighs from 200 to 300 pounds (90 to 140 kilograms). It often eats sitting upright with its hind legs stretched out. Copyright Tom & Pat Leeson, Photo Researchers

Objective:

The new cub was the sixth giant panda cub to die at the National Zoo since the 1980s. A seventh cub was stillborn. The only cub born at the zoo to survive into maturity was Tai Shan, who was born in 2005 and was returned to China in 2010. The Behind the Headlines news story and related World Book articles takes a look at why this black-and-white bear is so helpless at birth, along with the efforts to breed them in captivity.

Words to Know:

• bamboo
• China
• endangered
• extinction
• National Zoo
• panda
• Smithsonian Institution
• veterinarian
• Washington, D.C.

Discussion Topics:

1. The giant panda is a large black-and-white bear. What else do your students know about pandas? (They might say that it’s a type of mammal native to China; it eats only bamboo, by grasping the plant between its fingers and an “extra thumb;” and it is in danger of extinction.)

2. The panda cub born at the National Zoo died just one week after birth. Talk to your students about how tiny panda cubs are at birth (weighing only about 5 ounces – about the size of a stick of butter) and how its small size increases the cub’s vulnerability. (Apart from its small size, the sub is born utterly helpless and hairless, is at a risk of infection, and is often accidentally crushed by its mother.)

3. After years of failed attempts, scientists have made great progress in breeding giant pandas in captivity. Zoos now hold more than 300 giant pandas. This number is considered the minimum needed to preserve giant pandas. Ask your students if they know of other species that are endangered. (They may say blue whales, orangutans, rhinoceroses, sea turtles, snow leopards, tigers, or whooping cranes.)