Panda Updates – Friday, August 31

Giant panda twins Ya Lun and Xi Lun, who turn 2 on September 3, were honored at two early-birthday celebrations on Friday, August 31, 2018, at Zoo Atlanta.

Ya Lun and Xi Lun entered their dayroom habitat at the Zoo’s Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Giant Panda Conservation Center to find birthday surprises created by the giant panda care team. The twins’ birthday enrichment featured two colorful ice “cakes,” each with two pillars and a large numeral two containing frozen banana slices. Ya Lun and Xi Lun also received large birthday boxes sprinkled with a hint of cinnamon – a favorite scent – and filled with leafeater biscuits, a regular part of the giant pandas’ diet.

While the birthday duo paused to check out their surprises, as growing bears, they were more interested in eating and settled down to dine on the staple of the giant panda diet: bamboo.