Tai Shan (panda)

Tai Shan
泰山

Tai Shan in June 2007
Species	Giant panda
Sex	Male
Born	(2005-07-09) July 9, 2005 (age 11) National Zoological Park, Washington, D.C. United States
Residence	China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda: Dujiangyan Base, Sichuan Province People's Republic of China
Parents	Mei Xiang, Tian Tian

Tai Shan (Chinese: 泰山; pinyin: Tài Shān, pronounced [tʰâiʂán], also known as Butterstick after birth and before naming) is a giant panda born at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. on July 9, 2005 at 3:41 AM. He is the first panda cub born at the National Zoo to survive for more than a few days.

Tai Shan is the first cub born to Mei Xiang ([mèiɕjɑ́ŋ]) and Tian Tian ([tʰjɛntʰjɛn]), the National Zoo's second pair of giant pandas. (The first pair, Ling-Ling (female) and Hsing-Hsing (male), were donated to the United States by China in 1972, shortly after Richard Nixon's historic visit. Ling-Ling died in 1992 and Hsing-Hsing in 1999 without producing any cubs that survived for more than a few days.)

Both of Tai Shan's parents were born at the China Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong, Sichuan Province. Mei Xiang, his mother, was artificially inseminated in March 2005 with sperm from Tian Tian after natural mating between the pair appeared unsuccessful. Per the agreement with China, the Chinese government can require that Tai Shan be sent to China any time after he reaches the age of two as he, like his parents, is the property of China. (Mei Xiang and Tian Tian are technically being "leased" to the National Zoo by the Chinese government in a ten-year, $10 million agreement, with the money to go to panda conservation research in China.) The National Zoo announced in April 2007 that it reached an agreement with the Chinese government to let Tai Shan remain at the National Zoo until at least July 2009. The announcement was made when Chinese Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong presented Tai Shan a "passport" with an extended stay period to July 2009, without extra charge.