A typical birthday celebration consists of enjoying cake amongst friends and family and opening gifts. Yet when you're only the second giant panda cub to survive past four days in the United States, your birthday celebration is anything but typical.

That was the case today (Aug. 19), as the San Diego Zoo celebrated the first birthday for its male giant panda cub, Mei Sheng (pronounced May-Shun). The black-and-white-bundle of fur, along with his dam, Bai Yun, and sire, Gao Gao, received a fun-filled day of snow at the SBC Giant Panda Research Station. The cold and slippery treat, which was made possible from 18 tons of shaved ice, provided plenty of smiles and laughs from guests as they enjoyed Mei Sheng get his first taste of the unseasonable icy treat.

"Being his first experience with snow, we thought he reacted really well," said Kathy Hawk, senior giant panda keeper at the Zoo. "It took him a while to get accustomed to the cold, but he became very curious and showed great play behavior, especially when he started slipping and sliding all over the exhibit."

When not sliding off the snow-covered trees, Mei Sheng played with his ice cake, decorated appropriately with the number one on top.

"It appeared he had more of an interest in climbing onto his cake as opposed to tasting the icy treat," said Hawk.

The day's festivities also included educational activities and crafts for guests. For those who couldn't attend Mei Sheng's birthday celebration, the Zoo's Panda Cam at www.sandiegozoo.org provided live coverage of Mei Sheng's interaction in the snow.

The 100-acre San Diego Zoo is operated by the not-for-profit Zoological Society of San Diego. The Zoological Society, dedicated to the conservation of endangered species and their habitats, engages in conservation and research work around the globe. The Zoological Society also manages the 1,800-acre San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park (more than half of which has been set aside as protected native species habitat) and the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species (CRES), and is working to establish field stations in five key ecological areas world-wide.

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Media Contact: Paul Garcia +1 619-685-3291 pgarcia@sandiegozoo.org