It was three years ago today that the National Zoo welcomed Tai Shan into the world. We fell in love immediately with the little fella, whom we named after the first press release deemed him the “size of a stick of butter.” The Zoo later officially gave him a different name (despite our best efforts otherwise).

His first three years have been filled with some ups and downs — becoming the unchallenged object of affection for the area’s bloggers, facing deportation, a dead beat dad, and accidentally injuring a zookeeper. But no matter what he goes through or how big and un-buttery he gets, Butterstick will always be DCist’s favorite animal. So happy birthday, big fella. If you’d like to make a donation or send him some birthday wishes through the National Zoo, go for it.

Tai Shan will be celebrating with some frozen snacks in his new digs. We’ll also be toasting something in his honor. Perhaps a Panda Surprise?

Of course, this third birthday also reminds us that we may not have Tai Shan around for too much longer. The Zoo announced in April 2007 that it has reached an agreement with the Chinese government to let Tai Shan remain at the National Zoo until at least July of 2009, but after that point, they might want to take him back to China. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that they let him stay longer than just one more year — as well as that we might soon have another stick of butter in the near future.

Photo by AlexEagle