National Zoo News

Critter Cupids: Wow your loved one with a truly wild Valentine that supports the National Zoo

This is the year to show your Valentine your animal magnetism. Wow your loved one with a truly wild gift—naming a National Zoo critter after your sweetie, a friend, or a family member.

Giant and red pandas begin preparing for the breeding season. Read all about it in the latest panda update

As winter progresses, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian are beginning to show breeding behaviors.

Four maned wolf pups born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

Although 2012 has only just begun, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, already has something to celebrate in the new year: the birth of four maned wolf pups on January 5.

Read all about Ambika, the third oldest elephant in North America, in the latest elephant update

Ambika, our grand dame, has always been the most social of our elephants and much of her entertainment involves her interactions with the other elephants and the keepers. Some people would assume that because she is now 64 years old (the third oldest elephant in North America!) that she would be exhibiting all these obviously geriatric elephant behaviors, but that is just not the case. We, as her keepers, are treating her differently because we are mindful of the particular issues that can come up as elephants age but I don’t think Ambika is acting significantly different than she did 30 years ago.

SCBI scientists work to predict the next emerging infectious disease

Pete Marra, an SCBI scientists, is helping launch an Animal Mortality Monitoring Program (AMMP) in Africa sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development that will alert authorities to animal deaths—“mortality events”—that occur on a larger-than-normal scale. Known as AMMP, the network is intended to serve as an early warning system for emerging infectious diseases that can pass from animal populations into the human population. Recently, Marra and his collaborator Isabelle-Anne Bisson, a research associate at the Migratory Bird Center, took a few minutes to answer some questions about this new initiative.