FILE - In this July 9, 2012 file photo released by the Ueno Zoological Park Society, Shin Shin, a 7-year-old giant panda, holds her newly born baby, center, in her cage at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. The zoo said the six-day old baby panda died of pneumonia Wednesday, July 11, 2012. When a zoo keeper checked it second time Wednesday morning as it was lying belly up on Shin Shin’s chest, the baby was not breathing. (AP Photo/Ueno Zoological Park Society, File) EDITORIAL USE ONLY
July 11, 2012 - 1:41 AM
TOKYO - A giant panda born at a Tokyo zoo last week has died.
Tokyo's Ueno Zoo says the 6-day-old panda died of pneumonia Wednesday morning. A zookeeper found it lying belly up, without breathing, on its 7-year-old mother's chest.
The male baby, which hadn't been named yet, died an hour later despite heart massage.
It was the first panda born at the zoo since 1988 and was conceived naturally.
Its mother, Shin Shin, was brought from China just before Japan's tsunami and earthquake disasters last year. The much anticipated baby had been celebrated across Japan, and the news of its death topped afternoon television news Wednesday.
Giant pandas have a low birth rate, and artificial insemination is common in captive breeding programs.
News from © The Associated Press, 2012