 |
| 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.
(Agenices)
Updated: 2002-08-05 01:00