Join The Panda Birthday Party (SLIDESHOW)

Tai Shan the panda goes after a cake made for his fourth birthday celebration at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC. Tai Shan was presented with an ice cake made of water, bamboo, shredded beets and beet juice. The cake was topped with a sculpted bamboo.

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Comments

[chedet]

01:09 AM on 07/14/2009

Happy belated birthday tai shan and stay cute!

[kittyarmy]

07:33 PM on 07/13/2009

Oooooh, somebody got lucky =)

[nodonjuan]

06:19 PM on 07/12/2009

Tai Shan is the most wonderful Giant Panda ever. His Momma really was a fantastic parent. I have watched him since birth. Look up Tai Shan and his apple & Tai Shan & Brian(one of his keepers) on youtube. He is one very special bear!

[PorkyDomesticus]

05:44 AM on 07/12/2009

Aw, it's a cute bear making a pig of himself!

[jozzie]

10:46 PM on 07/11/2009

Smart panda. Only eats raw food.

[jcause28]

07:07 PM on 07/11/2009

Happy Birthday!

[edwarvir]

06:59 PM on 07/11/2009

Happy Birthday I hope you enjoyed your cake Yum Yum

[Copeword]

05:29 PM on 07/11/2009

I'm glad they didn't take the panda to a restaurant.

[jones]

03:41 PM on 07/11/2009

Happy Birthday Mr. Panda. You know you are cute.

[sheriwriter]

03:00 PM on 07/11/2009

Happy birthday Tai Shan. You and the cake are both adorable. Live long and eat many cakes.

[Fein]

02:56 PM on 07/11/2009

It's a pretty picture. But I can';t help thinking that this picture is an eloquently descriptive testament to the current status of the Human race.

Tens of thousands of Humans are starving, and we give birthday parties to non sentient creatures.

[TigersEye]

04:45 PM on 07/11/2009

I get your point but that cake is just made with some beets, bamboo and ice. It's nothing that most sentient creatures would get too worked up over.

[MTGradwell]

05:22 PM on 07/11/2009

Non sentient creatures? The party was for the panda, not for the bamboo.

[Clare53]

02:29 PM on 07/11/2009

Fancy cake.

[Bitsko]

01:17 PM on 07/11/2009

It's a crying shame the vast majority of panda's no longer live in the wild.

[CardboardBox]

12:55 PM on 07/11/2009

Why ice? I'm sure they'd like to get right to the snacks instead of going through a foot of ice. Second and third picture show that I think. Anyway, pandas are pretty cool creatures.

[Kalarchis]

03:30 PM on 07/11/2009

Well, I don't think panda stomachs are designed to digest real cake :)

One of the points of this cake, I think, is that it's something new and interesting to play with. Very important for captive animals.

[DrPneumann]

12:42 PM on 07/11/2009

I hope the D.C. zoo is well funded:

"The Franklin Park Zoo, an inner-city Boston institution that has drawn generations of city and suburban families, may be forced to close its doors and possibly euthanize some of its animals as a result of the deep budget cuts imposed by Governor Deval Patrick, zoo officials said today."

[dteg]

02:36 PM on 07/11/2009

What kind of creature cuts the zoo funds. Pennsylvania needs to stop this.