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Mei Xiang,
the female panda enjoys a bucket of ice and fruit during a
birthday celebration at the National Zoo in Washington Thursday,
Aug. 1, 2002. |
The National Zoo held a panda party for its most
prominent residents Thursday, celebrating the birthdays of Mei Xiang and
Tian Tian. Mei Xiang, the female, turned 4 on July 22, and Tian Tian will turn 5
on Aug 27. The zoo picked a date in between to celebrate their birthday.
"Today we're really celebrating all giant panda birthdays,"
zoo director Lucy Spelman said. "Today is about our giant pandas
here and what we've learned about them in the past year and a half, what
we will continue to learn about them and how it applies to the wild
giant panda population."
As thousands of guests ate slices of a cake decorated with bamboo and
replicas of the pandas, Mei Xiang lapped at a block of ice with fruit in
the middle. Tian Tian took a nap in his air conditioned grotto and was
to have his frozen treat after he awoke, Spelman said.
Both pandas were born at a China research and conservation center
dedicated to studying the Giant Panda. They came to the U.S. in December
2000 and are on loan for 10 years to the zoo, which will pay the Chinese
government million in return. They are the zoo's second pair of pandas,
replacing Ling-Ling, who died in 1992 and Hsing-Hsing, who died in 1999.
The pandas lived together at first but were separated following their
first breeding season in May. The 262-pound Tian Tian had become too
aggressive in his play with the 217-pound Mei Xiang, and zoo officials
feared he might hurt her.
They were kept apart while curators studied the pandas' behavior,
although they could see and smell each other. They were reunited on July
25, when it became apparent that the two wanted to be together and could
play acceptably.
"They are much more calm and adult like in their play, right
now," Spelman said. "It's not the chirping, rambunctious play
that they did when they first arrived."
Scientists hope that their second mating season will be more
successful than the first.
"Both of them are going through puberty right now and are just
reaching maturity," panda curator Lisa Stevens said.
There's a good chance the two will mate next year, Spelman said.
However, scientists realize successful reproduction would be a long
shot. No giant panda cub born at the National Zoo has ever survived
longer than a few hours.
"We're not in a particular rush. They're still young,"
Spelman said.