The wondrous panda cub may get most of the attention at the National Zoo these days, and he just had his birthday celebrated. But on Saturday, in a sort of spirit of panda parity, one of his parents, the zoo’s papa panda, had his own party.
It was the 25th birthday for Tian Tian, and little time was lost Saturday morning in marking the event, with a panda breakfast that featured a panda-appropriate cake.
Exactly what the panda may have made of the goings-on may not be easily determined. Pandas do not seem a particularly confiding species and seem to share their innermost thoughts and feelings with few.
But from the outward signs Tian Tian appreciated the zoo’s thoughtfulness. Footage of the event showed that the creature’s quarters harbored a specially concocted cake, a leafy confection of staples and delicacies apparently designed to appeal to an older panda.
Fron the video it appeared that the vertically-structured birthday treat was toppled almost as soon as it was spotted.
If we ventured to suggest that animals possesss philosophies we might assign Tian Tian to some supposed school of mammalian deconstructionism. His motto, we might infer, was along the lines of destroy and devour.
Animals may have few methods of expressing enthusiasm, but Tian Tian did seem to relish the chance to consume the cake components.
As he leaned back, in a sort of cross-legged posture reflective of ease and leisure, and as he chewed happily away at items in his paw, he did seem to suggest satisfaction and a sense of well-being.
Tian Tian has devoted the best years of his life to such responsibilities as helping his species survive, and entertaining his public. They include not only visitors to the zoo but also viewers of video from the zoo.
It may be, then, that his workmanlike confrontation with the cake signaled in part a quiet conviction that his efforts did deserve occasional recognition in the form of something out of the ordinary.
For followers of the zoo and its inhabitants, the calendar made this month unusual. Panda fans could observe two panda birthday parties in the same week. On Aug. 21 the zoo presented a birthday cake to the so-called miracle cub, Xiao Qi Ji, to celebrate his second year among us.
For the event, zoo keepers in the Department of Nutrition Sciences created a special panda cake.
Ingredients included frozen diluted apple and pineapple juice, and decorations were concocted from sweet potato, apple, carrot, pear, sugar cane, banana and bamboo.
Pandas show great fondness for bamboo, and consume vast quantities.
For the little one, the zoo provided a special personal touch.
It was a large numeral “2”.
Perhaps paradoxically, an indication of the cub’s pleasure in the cake might have been the apparently brief time he spent admiring it. More time went into eating it.
A couple of exploratory applications of the youngster’s paws, and over it went, The better, it seemed, for a close examination of the individual treats embodied within.
As for the third of the zoo’s three giant pandas, the elderly Mei Xiang, her birthday was last month. It was by bearing the cub at her advanced age that she made his birth seem miraculous. And her own birthday was also recognized by the zoo with a cake. She too seemed to like it.
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