Young Sichuan Giant Panda Cub Dies After Entanglement in Hanging Ball Rope – Staff Didn't Notice Anomaly Until 7 Hours Later
On April 10th, the China Giant Panda Breeding Research Base announced that at around 2:00 AM on the 9th, female panda cub ‘Lu Lu Zi’ died due to asphyxiation caused by entanglement of the hanging ball rope around its neck at the Shenshiping Base. Lu Lu Zi was born on August 10, 2019.
The announcement stated that at around 2:00 AM on March 9th, ‘Lu Lu Zi’ was playing alone on the outdoor playground of the Shenshiping Base kindergarten, climbing onto a wooden frame with hanging ball toys, and subsequently entangled the rope of the hanging ball around its body, exhibiting struggling behavior. Within a few minutes, the cub stopped struggling and unfortunately died. Due to the late night incident and the difficulty in distinguishing the cub's position with the wooden frame, the night patrol personnel failed to notice the abnormality. In the early morning, on March 9th, the kindergarten staff visited the feeding point and observed that most panda cubs were resting, without noticing any abnormalities (the deceased cub was facing away from the viewing area and could not be clearly seen from a distance, resembling a cub hanging on the wooden frame). The staff found ‘Lu Lu Zi’ with the hanging ball rope entangled around its neck and forelimbs at approximately 9:00 AM, after entering the cat house playground, and after contacting and observing, they determined that it had been dead and promptly notified the veterinarian; after the veterinarian examined the cub, it was confirmed that the cub had been dead for some time.
The center deeply mourns the loss of ‘Lu Lu Zi’ and admits to certain lapses in the management of giant panda safety. It will further strengthen the safety inspection and evaluation of the safety of enrichment items for young giant pandas, thoroughly investigate and eliminate security hazards in the park; and at the same time, strengthen night patrols to avoid such incidents from occurring.
