Panda Cub Xiao Qi Ji celebrates first birthday at National Zoo

The National Zoo’s giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji turned 1-year-old Saturday and enjoyed a birthday treat with his parents Mei Xiang and Tian Tian to mark the occasion.

“We’ve been celebrating for the last 365 days quite frankly,” said the zoo’s senior curator Bryan Amaral. “It’s really a great chance to celebrate what happened last year all over again.”

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Giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji’s name means “little miracle” in English, as he was born in the middle of a pandemic and his mother was 22-years-old at the time, which meant she had a less than 1%t chance of giving birth to another cub. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)

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Giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji enjoys a birthday treat with his mother Mei Xiang. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)

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Xiao Qi Ji turned 1-year-old on Saturday and enjoyed a cake made of ice, fruit juices and other treats. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)

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Xiao Qi Ji was the zoo’s first giant panda cub in five years and is Mei Xiang’s fourth surviving cub. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)

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“It was really neat the way he came into the world,” the zoo’s senior curator Bryan Amaral said. “Even in the best of circumstances, pandas are not easy to breed.” (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)