Panda dad Tian Tian's 26th birthday celebrated in DC

The girls and their baby brother, 1-year-old Alex, and their mom, Malte, were all wearing pointy birthday hats with a panda sticker on each of them. They also lifted a golden bling handmade poster that read "Happy Birthday, Tian Tian".

Mei Xiang celebrated her 25th birthday on July 22, and the zoo celebrated Xiao Qi Ji's third birthday on Aug 21.

Xiao Qi Ji was so lively Sunday, climbing trees, playing with toys, and being cute, distracting some attention and laughter from his dad, Tian Tian, the star of the day.

Mei Xiang, a female panda, and Tian Tian arrived at the zoo in December 2000 based on a 10-year cooperative agreement on giant panda breeding and research signed with the China Wildlife Conservation Society.

In 2010, 2015, and 2020, the agreement saw extensions of five, five, and three years, respectively. The agreement expires at the end of 2023, marking the official repatriation of Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and Xiao Qi Ji to China.

Over her span of more than two decades in the US, Mei Xiang has successfully given birth to four robust giant panda cubs — Tai Shan, Bao Bao, Bei Bei and Xiao Qi Ji — all conceived through artificial insemination using Tian Tian's semen.

While Tai Shan, Bao Bao and Bei Bei have already returned to China to participate in the giant panda breeding initiative, Xiao Qi Ji entered the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic, arriving at a remarkable time when his mother, Mei Xiang, was a venerable 22 years old — a notable age for a giant panda.

The journey of Xiao Qi Ji from birth to growth has captivated the interest of panda enthusiasts within and beyond the US. Notably, the moniker "Xiao Qi Ji" was the outcome of an online naming poll sponsored by the zoo, which received 135,000 votes.

Before Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, the zoo welcomed the first Chinese pandas, Ling Ling and Xing Xing, to the United States in April 1972. Last year, the zoo celebrated the 50th anniversary of the pandas' arrival with a series of events called the Pandaversary Party.