10 July 2006

Zoo Celebrates Success of Panda's First Year with a Birthday Bash

The result of U.S.-China conservation efforts provides a future for pandas

Tai Shan looks over a frozen treat made for him on his first birthday, July 9, 2006, at the National Zoo in Washington. (© AP/WWP)

By Cassie Duong
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Giant panda cub Tai Shan drew enthusiastic crowds of partygoers to the National Zoological Park in Washington on July 9 to celebrate his first birthday.

“This is the first cub to survive [at the National Zoo] and it’s a big deal for us that he made it a year,” said La Shawn Harris, a National Zoo staff member.  There have been five other cubs born at the zoo, but none reached its first year.

Tai Shan is the first cub for the National Zoo's female panda Mei Xiang (meaning Beautiful Fragrance) and her partner Tian Tian (More and More), who are on loan from China through 2010.  A previous panda couple -- Hsing-Hsing (Full of Life) and Ling-Ling (Smart and Cute), a gift from China in 1972 after President Nixon's historic trip to reopen U.S.-China relations -- had five cubs during the 1980s but none lived more than a few days. (See related article). 

“We have had such a hard time with other cubs,” said Mickey Lovelett, a National Zoo volunteer.  “It really is amazing that [Tai Shan] survived and it is an accomplishment to the zoo staff.”

Another panda cub in the United States, Su Lin, will turn one year old on August 2.  She and her older brother, Mei Sheng, currently live at the San Diego Zoo.

At birth, Tai Shan weighed less than 113 grams -- the size of a stick of butter -- which led to his nickname "Butterstick."  Tai Shan now weighs 27 kilograms and is expected to weigh 113 kilograms when he reaches adulthood, according to the zoo’s Web site.

CELEBRATION AND CONSERVATION

In celebration of Tai Shan’s first birthday and the success of the National Zoo, the cub received a new soccer ball, a baby pool and a custom-made fruitsicle-tiered cake prepared by zoo nutritionists.  Visitors received cupcakes, pointed green party hats, pictures with a panda-costumed character and party favors.  

Along with festivities, educational booths were set up for visitors to learn about pandas and their natural habitats.  Partygoers had the opportunity to ask panda experts about research and conservation projects and efforts to help endangered species and the environment, Harris said. 

Children learned about Tai Shan through arts and crafts stations that varied from looking at paw prints to guessing the cub’s weight.  “It is great for kids to learn about endangered species and conservation,” Lovelett said.

Pandas are considered a critically endangered species because there are only 1,600 pandas remaining in the wild, according to the National Zoo’s Web site. Giant pandas live in scattered populations in central China in the temperate bamboo forests.  The bamboo forests are being cut down, which endangers the panda population.

“[It] is so crucial to support conservation research in China, and why we need to have a population of giant pandas in zoos as an insurance policy against extinction,” the zoo’s Web site said.

Caitlin Burrell, a zoo science intern said, “It is important to increase the number of births of [pandas] in captivity for the preservation of their future.”

The National Zoo’s Web site said, “The birth of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian’s new cub is an achievement shared by both National Zoo and Chinese scientists.”

“This contribution to the giant panda population reflects the skills and dedication of a remarkable cadre of [the National Zoo’s] scientists as well as colleagues in China who quietly, but determinedly, work to study and save one of the world’s most recognized and beloved species,” the zoo’s Web site said.

Four U.S. zoos that actively support panda research and conservation efforts are the National Zoo, the San Diego Zoo, the Memphis (Tennessee) Zoo and Zoo Atlanta.

For more information about U.S. policies, see The United States and China.

Additional information about Tai Shan's first birthday and giant pandas is available on the zoo’s Web site.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)