Bei Bei the giant panda turns 3 as National Zoo pulls out all the stops

Bei Bei, a giant panda at the Smithsonian National Zoo, turned three on Wednesday, and his caretakers made sure to pull out all the stops.

As part of his third birthday, the zoo gave him an ice-cake, which was made special with “all of his favorite foods.”

The zoo, in a news release, said the tiered cake was comprised of “diluted apple, cranberry and grape juice with leaf-eater biscuit puree,” and was “decorated and filled with apples, pears, bananas, shredded carrots and cooked sweet potatoes” — similar to his second birthday cake.

In addition to enjoying his favorite snacks, Bei Bei also participated in an animal-enrichment painting session, and was gifted a new toy.

Luckily Bei Bei, who the zoo said is now close to 215 pounds, made sure to stay awake for his celebration, unlike his birthday party two years ago, in which he fell asleep before he got to eat the cake.

Bei Bei made headlines in May, when he was filmed dangling — and subsequently falling off of — a tree branch.