Smithsonian’s National Zoo Xiao Qi Ji celebrated his second birthday Sunday. News4’s Derrick Ward reports.
The Smithsonian's National Zoo hosted a birthday party for giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji’s second birthday on Sunday.
To celebrate the occasion, Xiao Qui Ji and his 24-year-old mother, Mei Xiang were presented with a panda-friendly fruitsicle cake.
"Can you bear-lieve it?! Giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji is turning 2 on Sunday," the National Zoo tweeted.
The zoo opened at 8 a.m. Sunday to visitors with free entry passes. The event took place at 9 a.m. when the zookeepers let the pandas outside in the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat.
At the celebration, Xiao Qi Ji mostly kept his back to the crowd but also rolled around and enjoyed his cake. Crowds at the event were heard "oohing and aahing" at some of his cute actions.
According to National Zoo spokesperson Pamela Baker-Masson, the happy panda cub loves to play in pools of water like his mother.
"This panda cub I am happy to say, is thriving, he is actually weighing in around 165, which is just a few more pounds than his siblings, who are all now in China, weighed at this point," Baker-Masson said.
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is also celebrating 50 years of “unprecedented achievement in the care, conservation, breeding and study of giant pandas," the National Zoo said in a statement.
The U.S. panda program's partnership with China first started during the Nixon administration. Over the years, it has helped keep pandas from extinction. The giant panda population is still currently considered vulnerable, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
After the party, Xiao Qi Ji was seen taking a nap. People who missed the party can watch the pandas on the Giant Panda Cam.
