Officials Hopeful Tiny Panda Will Live Despite Illness

A newborn panda cub fought for her life in an incubator Saturday as National Zoo officials remained hopeful the tiny animal would overcome the infection that left it in critical condition.

“It’s in a guarded state, but it’s alive and holding its own,” said zoo spokesman Mark Bretzfelder.

The four-ounce cub, confined to an oxygen-filled incubator since late Friday, was being fed a milk-like formula through a tube that was inserted down her throat and into her stomach.

“We’re treating it as we would a premature baby in which there are problems,” said zoo director Dr. Michael Robinson.

Ling-Ling gave birth to her fifth cub Friday morning and zoo officials determined hours later that the offspring had a fever, too many white blood cells and fluid in her lungs.

All of Ling-Ling’s previous cubs have died. If this one survives, it would be the first giant panda successfully bred in the United States.

“The most encouraging thing is that its condition has not worsened,” Robinson said.