Photo of panda Kelin

 Chinese panda fans are heart-broken as giant panda Kelin was pronounced to have died of malignant tumor in January after receiving emergency treatment. This is the first case in the history of giant pandas in captivity.

According to a statement released by the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, Kelin suddenly collapsed and convulsed while eating indoors on January 3. 

The veterinary team immediately carried out emergency procedures and reached out to neurosurgery experts from a leading hospital for emergency consultation. The preliminary diagnosis from the experts was that Kelin suffered from intracranial lesions.

During the rescue, Kelin had a respiratory arrest crisis for nearly two hours and intermittent systemic ankylosis symptoms were not  significantly relieved. 

After round-the-clock efforts by the veterinary team, Kelin suffered respiratory arrest again on January 6 and was declared dead at 14:15 on the same day after rescue efforts failed.

To further clarify the type and nature of the disease, the veterinarian team conducted an autopsy and histopathological examination on Kelin. On January 25, the bear was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a kind of malignant tumor. 

Doctors said the disease has not been reported in veterinary medicine on giant pandas at home and abroad. Medical studies have shown that glioblastoma, due to its rapid growth, high malignancy and rapid progression, usually has an average survival time of one year through surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The latest data show that the average survival time of glioblastoma is 5.4 months.

The disease, which attacks the nervous system of giant pandas and causes death within 72 hours, is the first case in the history registered on a giant panda in captivity. This case also pointed out many blind spots in the prevention and treatment of diseases in giant pandas, veterinarians said. 

Kelin was born in a famous family. Her mother is the widely known "Jiaozi" and her father is the legendary "Kobe", named by Samaranch, the former president of International Olympic Committee.

With no mating experience, Kelin did not understand the courting behavior of male pandas. Workers at the base played videos of pandas mating for her to watch. A photo showing her watching a "pornographic" video was chosen by Time magazine as one of the "Most Surprising Photos of 2013."

Kelin gave birth to a male cub at the base on June 17, 2018 with a weight of 161 grams. 

Kelin's first litter, female twins, was born at the base in 2015. They were the first set of panda twins to be born that year. The twins were named as "Olympia" and "Fuwa," by the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach.

Global Times