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Tai Shan celebrates his fourth birthday at the National Zoo
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Tai Shan celebrated his fourth birthday this morning at the National Zoo. The birthday festivities included singing, guests, and an enormous three-tiered "veggie-sicle" made from frozen water, beets, and beet juice. In true panda fashion, Tai Shan gobbled down his frozen treat until his face became stained with the melting beet juice.
As the Zoo's first baby panda to survive more than a few weeks, Tai Shan has been quite a media sensation in the Washington area since his birth in 2005. Now at four years of age, Tai Shan has entered into his adolescent years and weighs more than 190 pounds (compared to the 1.82 pounds he weighed at birth). Both he and his parents are currently on loan from the China Wildlife Conservation Association.
Giant pandas live in the temperate bamboo forests of central China. One of the rarest animals in the world, less than 2,000 of these black and white bears reside in the wild. today About 160 pandas now live in captivity, mostly in zoos and breeding centers located in China.
Visitors can see Tai Shan and his parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, at the Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat in the Experience Asia Trail area of the Zoo. The National Zoo is located at 3001 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008, and is easily accessible via the Adams Morgan Metro stop (parking is available too). The Zoo is open every day except Christmas from 10:00AM to 5:30PM. Admission is free.
Photo courtesy of Fernando Revilla.
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