Adopt a cheetah, lion, or another African animal.
The National Zoo Store Online offers an array of books, educational games, and more related to the African Savanna.
Visit
the Smithsonian's African Art Museum.
Cheetah News
New Cheetah at the Zoo
Amani, a two-year-old female cheetah, recently went on exhibit at the National Zoo's Cheetah Conservation Station. She came to the Zoo from an Oregon animal park in late December, but had been kept off exhibit until she became accustomed to her new surroundings. Visitors can now see Amani daily at the Cheetah Conservation Station.
Animal-care staff hope that she will breed with one of the Zoo's three cheetah brothers in the future. It will be up to Amani to choose which of the cheetahs, if any, she wants to breed with—the same type of breeding behavior that a female cheetah in the wild would display. 
Learn about cheetahs.
New Cheetah Science Facility Opens
On October 6, the National Zoo opened the new Cheetah Science Facility at our Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia. It is the first new research facility to be constructed on the property in 22 years.
This nine-acre Cheetah Science Facility will be the center of the Zoo’s international cheetah research program in which scientists study cheetah biology to ensure good health, reproduction, and self-sustaining populations in zoos and in the wild. more
Want to make a difference? Help support the Zoo's cheetah conservation program.
Cheetah Chat
Tune into the Zoo's new podcast, Cheetah Chat, to learn about cheetah spots and speed, and the history and future of the Zoo's cheetah conservation efforts.
Visiting the Cheetahs
The Zoo's Cheetah Conservation Station is home to three young male cheetah brothers and a two-year-old female cheetah. These brothers are on exhibit together, and the female is on exhibit in another yard. On good-weather days, you may see a cheetah chasing a lure around the yard closest to Olmsted Walk. 
Meet the cheetahs.
Cheetah Cam 1 | Cheetah Cam 2 Related Cams Naked Mole-rat Lions |
Cheetah Photo Gallery
Adopt a CheetahNew Zebras at the Zoo
Two young male Grevy's zebras recently arrived at the Zoo and are now on exhibit at the Cheetah Conservation Station. The younger zebra will be two years old in October, the older one will be four in September. The Zoo participates in the Species Survival Plan for this endangered species. Our role is to provide a home for males until they are old enough to breed at another zoo. Find out about Grevy's zebras.
New Lions at the Zoo
Three young lions—one male and two females—arrived at the Zoo a few months ago and are now on exhibit during limited hours. Lusaka, the Zoo's adult female lion, is usually out from about 8 to 10:30 a.m., the young females from about 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the male from about 1 to 4 p.m. Please note this schedule may change.
The two females are about two years old and three years old, and are sisters. The male is about one. The keepers have been introducing the male to the females, the young lions to the yard at the Great Cats exhibit and to Lusaka.
Read an update from the lion keepers.
Animal Enigma
This striped carnivore lives in many regions of Africa and is now on exhibit at the Small Mammal House. What is it?
African Savanna
The East African savanna, a dry tropical grassland, is home to a rich array of spectacular animals. Predators like lions and cheetahs prey on grazing and browsing animals like zebras, gazelles, and sometimes young giraffes. Stately birds like kori bustards stalk smaller prey while rarely seen naked mole-rats inhabit burrows on the savanna; huge hippos stay cool in rivers and lakes.
You can see these species and more without traveling to Africa. Just come to the Zoo or watch our 
web cams. African species at the Zoo
Tall and Small at the Elephant House
Come to the Elephant House to see some African animals—a Nile hippo and two pygmy hippos—plus capybaras from South America and three Asian elephants.
Spots and Stripes at the Cheetah Conservation Station
The Zoo's Cheetah Conservation Station is home to Grevy's zebras, scimitar-horned oryx, cheetahs, and other animals.
Grasslands in Africa and Beyond
Africa's
Sahel grassland, home to endangered scimitar-horned oryx and
many other rare species, merges into the Sahara desert to
the north and the savanna to the south. Mostly dry grasslands
also cover southern Africa, home to cheetahs, Cape buffalo,
black rhinos, and kori bustards also found in East Africa.
Zoo scientists are working in all of these areas to help conserve
the incredible biodiversity of Africa's grasslands.
Moist tropical forests blanket parts of central and West Africa, home to great apes, including western lowland gorillas, which you can see at the Zoo.
North America's grasslands were once home to abundant black-footed ferrets, bison, and prairie
dogs. On South
America's plains, seriemas and maned wolves stalk prey. Parts
of Asia, such
as Mongolia, home of Bactrian camels, Mongolian gazelles,
and Prezwalski's horses, are covered with grasslands.
