GIANT PANDA CELEBRATES 2ND BIRTHDAY AT SAN DIEGO ZOO

AUGUST 19, 2005

As the country revels in the historic birth of two giant panda cubs, the San Diego Zoo celebrates the second birthday of its juvenile giant panda, Mei Sheng, with the panda version of a birthday cake and presents. Mei Sheng tore through his presents, hand-created by a group of San Diego Zoo summer camp students and filled by his keepers with some of his favorite food items including apples and biscuits.

To celebrate his second year, two iced birthday cakes were created and filled with tasty panda treats like carrots. Both cakes were topped with bamboo candles and one was meticulously decorated with eggplant by Zoo staff to create a panda face.

The San Diego Zoo now has the largest population of the critically endangered giant pandas outside of mainland China. The Zoo has four pandas, including Mei Sheng, born August 19, 2003, his father Gao Gao, his mother Bai Yun, and his 2-week-old sibling. It is estimated there are only about 1,600 giant pandas in the world.