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1 Of The Twin Pandas Born At National Zoo Has Died

"We are sad to report that the smaller of the two panda cubs has died," the National Zoo announced Wednesday, in an update on the twin giant pandas that were born Saturday.

The two cubs were born hours apart; the zoo staff had been attempting to give both of them access to their mother, Mei Xiang, but they reportedly had difficulty in switching the cubs.

"Haven't been able to swap cubs since 2p 8/24," the zoo tweeted around midday Tuesday, adding, "Mei has larger cub. Smaller cub's behaviors are good; still high-risk time."

You can follow the pandas on the zoo's Panda Cams.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Bill Chappell is a writer and editor on the News Desk in the heart of NPR's newsroom in Washington, D.C.
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