The female cub, named Lulu, was playing in an outdoor area at the Shenshuping Base for giant pandas in Sichuan Province around 2am on Thursday when it became entangled in a rope and suffocated, said the China Conservation and Protection Center for the Giant Panda.
The center said a staff member on night patrol had assumed the cub was resting on the wooden structure.
Early on April 10, a breeder observed the area from a distance, but also failed to detect an issue. The incident wasn’t discovered until the breeder entered the outdoor area around 9am and saw Lulu had been strangled. A vet confirmed the cub had been dead for some time.
Netizens were heartbroken by the incident and claimed the Center had been negligent. Lulu was born on August 10, 2019.