Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
ROAR, he’s FOUR! Join us in wishing giant panda Bao Li a dino-mite birthday! At 9 a.m., animal care staff presented Bao Li with a special panda-friendly fruitsicle cake made by the Zoo’s Department of Nutrition Science. Commissary keepers crafted the multi-tiered cake using frozen diluted pineapple juices. The treat was decorated with Bao Li’s favorite treats, including apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, blueberries and leafeater biscuits. The cake was topped with 4 “candles” made from one of the pandas’ favorite foods: sugar cane!
Bao Li made a beeline straight for his cake. He snacked on a piece of sugar cane first, then plucked an apple from the top. He chewed each treat slowly, seeming to savor every bite! The cake was flanked by two colorful enrichment boxes, one was green with “Dino-4” in painted letters, and the other—a blue box inscribed with “To: Bao Li From: Your Keepers”—concealed a new buoy toy hidden inside. Keepers place a colorful hand-painted banner, complete with a panda in a dinosaur costume, in the habitat for decoration. Virtual visitors tuned into the Zoo’s Giant Panda Cam, sponsored by The Boeing Company, to watch Bao Li enjoy his birthday festivities.
This marks Bao Li’s first birthday at the Zoo since he arrived in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 15, 2024 with 3-year-old female giant panda Qing Bao. The giant panda team affectionately describes Bao Li as charismatic, playful and confident. “He is so much fun to work with!” said Laurie Thompson, assistant curator of giant pandas. “Bao Li always greets us with a bleat and seems to enjoy attention, whether it’s during training sessions, playing in the hose spray while we clean or coming over for ear scritches.”
Want to give Bao Li a birthday gift? Make his day extra special by pledging to save pandas! Head to our website to support panda conservation efforts around the globe: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/support. On behalf of our #DCPandas and all the animals we care for: thank you! 🫶
ROAR, he’s FOUR! Join us in wishing giant panda Bao Li a dino-mite birthday! At 9 a.m., animal care staff presented Bao Li with a special panda-friendly fruitsicle cake made by the Zoo’s Department of Nutrition Science. Commissary keepers crafted the multi-tiered cake using frozen diluted pineapple juices. The treat was decorated with Bao Li’s favorite treats, including apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, blueberries and leafeater biscuits. The cake was topped with 4 “candles” made from one of the pandas’ favorite foods: sugar cane!
Bao Li made a beeline straight for his cake. He snacked on a piece of sugar cane first, then plucked an apple from the top. He chewed each treat slowly, seeming to savor every bite! The cake was flanked by two colorful enrichment boxes, one was green with “Dino-4” in painted letters, and the other—a blue box inscribed with “To: Bao Li From: Your Keepers”—concealed a new buoy toy hidden inside. Keepers place a colorful hand-painted banner, complete with a panda in a dinosaur costume, in the habitat for decoration. Virtual visitors tuned into the Zoo’s Giant Panda Cam, sponsored by The Boeing Company, to watch Bao Li enjoy his birthday festivities.
This marks Bao Li’s first birthday at the Zoo since he arrived in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 15, 2024 with 3-year-old female giant panda Qing Bao. The giant panda team affectionately describes Bao Li as charismatic, playful and confident. “He is so much fun to work with!” said Laurie Thompson, assistant curator of giant pandas. “Bao Li always greets us with a bleat and seems to enjoy attention, whether it’s during training sessions, playing in the hose spray while we clean or coming over for ear scritches.”
Want to give Bao Li a birthday gift? Make his day extra special by pledging to save pandas! Head to our website to support panda conservation efforts around the globe: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/support. On behalf of our #DCPandas and all the animals we care for: thank you! 🫶
