Happy Birthday Tai Shan!

[Tai Shan and Mei Xiang, his mom, in 2006]

Tai Shan, the first surviving panda cub at the National Zoo, turned three today. As a special birthday treat he received a frozen sweet potato, fruit and Jell-O cake in the shape of a three (yum).

On a sadder note, giant pandas aren't faring well in the wild. Only a few thousand still exist, I'm talking 1,600-to-3,500.

Here's information on how you can support the Giant Panda Conservation Fund.

Images via About.com: Washington, DC and the Smithsonian National Zool, both have cute Tai Shan photo galleries.