How does a panda celebrate his birthday? At the National Zoo, it’s by living out every four-year-old’s dream: cake for breakfast.

Today, Bao Li, the giant male panda at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, turned four. It marks his first birthday since arriving in DC in October 2024. Zookeepers presented Bao Li with a special panda-friendly fruitsicle cake.

Bao Li seemed to enjoy the fruity, multi-tiered treat. His cake-eating strategy was fairly simple: get the good stuff first. He used his claws to slice off the fruits on top, including apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, and blueberries, which are some of his favorite treats. And while you normally wouldn’t let a four-year-old eat the candles on his birthday cake, Bao Li was able to snarf down the four sugar cane “candles” with gusto.

His ke

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