A male giant panda sat down and straddled his birthday cake made of ice and bamboo Friday at the San Diego Zoo. The ice cake was part of the morning celebration for Yun Zi, who turned two.
The ice cake was created by staff in the Zooâs forage warehouse, which manages the distribution of food to animals throughout the Zoo. The staff began creating the three-tiered cake several weeks ago and decorated it with bows made out of bamboo leaves and colored pieces of ice; it was topped with a number â2.â The cake design included a bowl in the bottom tier that was filled with the giant pandaâs favorite fruits and vegetablesâyams, carrots and apples â and drizzled with honey.
Quickly after this photo was taken, Yun Zi knocked off the â2â on top, and then pushed the entire cake over, presumably to get to the other treats on the cake.
The San Diego Zoo is one of four zoos in the United States with giant pandas. The Zoo began its long-term giant panda conservation partnership with the Peopleâs Republic of China in 1996. Since then, the Zoo has welcomed the birth of five healthy pandasâthe most of any zoo in the nation.
The 100-acre San Diego Zoo is dedicated to the conservation of endangered species and their habitats. The organization focuses on conservation and research work around the globe, educates millions of individuals a year about wildlife and maintains accredited horticultural, animal, library and photo collections. The Zoo also manages the 1,800-acre San Diego Zoo Safari Park (historically referred to as the Wild Animal Park), which includes a 900-acre native species reserve, and the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research. The important conservation and science work of these entities is supported in part by The Foundation of the Zoological Society of San Diego.
Photo taken August 5, 2011 by Tammy Spratt, San Diego Zoo