Cute Zoo Animals Eating Birthday Cake (SLIDESHOW)

Often while searching through the AP photo archive for serious news items, we'll stumble across some unrelated but amazing images. When the Bush administration was considering what it would do with the endangered species list, we were looking for photos of certain animals and came across a polar bear celebrating its birthday.

Then it occurred to us that there could be many photos of animals celebrating birthdays. Well. There are! Check out these adorable Zoo animals on their Birthdays eating yummy cake or cake substitute made to their particular tastes.

• • • • • • • • • • • Giant panda Hua Mei eats a cake made for the animal's third birthday on Aug. 21, 2002, at the San Diego Zoo.

Comments

[strangerinthenight]

I have a cat and a dog. I had them for 5 and 16 years respectively. In the meantime, all of my BFF had been married, divorced, re-married, then divorced, then re-married, then divorced and so on.

For now, I think I'll stick to just having boy friends and just with my cat and dog. I have time.

[ptillen]

My cats found the picture of Dulce to be quite inspiring.

[HoraceOvidson]

It looks like the last thing the panda needs is some dessert. How about putting the money into a membership for the panda at the nearest fitness club?

[Treehuggindirtworshiper]

If we treated each other as well as we do our pets and endangered animals, there would be no war; no hate; no suffering.

[cucumber]

Now explain the 6 million unwanted pets killed in shelters in the US every year.

Explain bushmeat, and the dwindling numbers of elephants and tigers because we're encroaching on their lands.

[Treehuggindirtworshiper]

But since there are people like you out there it will never happen.

[crazylikeafox]

Take a good look humans. Some of these species are nearly gone.

There aren't enough of them to reproduce in zoos.

Soon they will be gone forever.

[Badbone]

True, but they'd do it to us if they could. Mother nature weeds out species that can't survive, without remorse. She's been doing it long before humans came on the scene (dinosaurs) and will continue to do so long after we are gone.

Personally, if it was us in zoos, I doubt most animals would make us birthday cakes.

[cucumber]

Your foolish flaw: animals dont put us in zoos. Never have, never will. So you can drop the hypothesizing in order to do horrible things to them, on the supposition that if they *could* (they can't), they *might* do the same thing to us.

[Owlygirl]

Poor Abu! Lol!

I personally think it's hilarious and sweet when humans give animals birthday cakes. One of the fun and funny things we do.

I also agree life behind "a cage" isn't the ideal situation. Nevertheless I want to believe the majority of these animals are well loved and certainly get fed well. With the way we've encroached upon wildlife they can hardly manage to find a place to live safely, never mind a daily meal. Breaks my heart really.

[mapleaforever]

What, no Sarah Palin?

[USLabor]

You're very observant, you must be a republican.

[Dave01]

Her helicopter was in the shop when those photographs were taken. She is disgusting!

[cucumber]

That orangutan is in a literal cell. It's hard to see how someone can look at that last picture and think of much that's joyous. Unless jailed for life prisoners inspires joy.

Can you imagine how rich the lives of the organgutan and big cats would be in the wild?

It's tragic to see them deprived of almost all their natural behaviors in zoos.

[Dave24]

I agree. Though with the ever-depleting ecosystem, zoos may become prime real-estate for these animals.

[txfriend]

Not to mention poachers.

[Badbone]

Yes, imagine how rich a life. Rich, and short.

I'd rather have organgutans and big cats live in a closed environment; then have them dead, shot for their pelts or bones.

[BrightBody]

Very sweet...ex­cept for the ones where they fed them actual, human-style cake. Not good for them at all!

sigh.....

[crayola 08]

nature really scored a home run on the cuteness meter when she made the panda. seriously it's gotta be the epitome of all things cute.

[robiform]

True--but don't forget koalas! On my first trip to Australia many years ago, the tour bus I was on had to come to a stop because another tour bus (filled with Japanese tourists) was blocking the road. Why? The driver of the first bus had spotted a koala in a roadside tree and everyone wanted to take pictures! I think that what pandas are to China, koalas are to Australia!

[txfriend]

Koalas, penguins, monkeys, otters, dolphins, pandas, cats, dogs, horses, whales, bears, ... sigh, when I was a kid I wanted to be an animal pediatrician, after knowing my doctor only treated children.

[bleau-in-red]

When I was a child growing up in New Orleans, our zoo was an absolute tragedy...­I still get teary eyed when I think of the conditions that animals were living in. My generation, growing up watching this, exploded into a positive agent for change, raising funds, and now the New Orleans Audubon Zoo is one of the premier zoos in the world...a real agent for learning..­about how to help verious animals on the verge of extinction, raising public awareness caring and education about the issues. Whenever I go there with my daughter, I still get teary eyed..but now it's because Audubon is living proof tha if people care enough, they can not only make things better, they can make them EXCELLENT! The Aquarium is also incredible.

[BillORights1776]

I grew up in New Orleans and had the Audubon Zoo in it's glory as the place to go. I love that place.

[DrJohnnySkeptic]

That's fantastic that these animals are being honored with a birthday celebration. These animals are precious gifts to our world and we should relish in their existence.

I have two cats and my partner and I celebrate their birthday (March 4th) every year with nice treats to mark their special day. They are turning 3 years-old next year, and we pay tribute to them because of the joy they bring to us in life. We spoil them daily with our love and affection, so we try to make their birthdays extra special.

[peacekitten]

each animal is such a gift. their birthdays are certainly

cause for celebration.

i am not such a fan of keeping them in cages, but until the world is a safe place for them, the only hope for these magnificent creatures is a zoo. i think of zoos as not so much keeping the animals locked up, but as keeping people who would harm them, away from them.

i hope that someday, the world will be safe for them to return to. but if they are all extinct because we didn't preserve them, it will be a moot point. as long as they are alive, there is hope. but once they are gone, they are gone forever, and that is unthinkable. we have already lost too many species as it is. we must save what we can.

in the meantime, may these animals and their cousins live long, healthy lives.

[macohmz]

Feeding those beasts cake on their birthdays? Now that's socialism.

[avraamjack]

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Everybody loves their critters.
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[Mattie]

these people who take care of the animals have a way better job than I do.

[avraamjack]

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Indeed !
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