News Archive 2008
January | February | March | April | May | June| July |
August | September | October | November
- Eco-friendly Gift Ideas from the National Zoo
From Adopt a Species packages to green gifts like panda poo-poo paper and handbags made with recycled juice packs, FONZ has trendy, eco-friendly gifts for every animal lover on your holiday shopping list. - Dama Gazelle Born at Smithsonian's National Zoo
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo is proud to announce the birth of a female dama gazelle calf Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008. The calf is healthy, very active and thriving in her new environment. - Giant Panda Conservation Continues as China Recovers from Earthquake
Six months after an earthquake devastated central China’s Sichuan Province—home to 46 giant panda reserves and 75 percent of the estimated 1,600 wild pandas—the National Zoo’s giant panda conservation programs in that region continue. - National Zoo Photo Releas: Silver fox rabbits debut at Kids' Farm
Photos available for download - Rare Salamander Dies at National Zoo
Staff at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo euthanized a female Japanese giant salamander Monday, Nov. 3, due to her declining health following several months of treatment for liver disease and a skin infection. - Tickets for the National Zoo’s Second Annual “ZooLights” On Sale Now
This holiday season the National Zoo will be at its brightest after dark as Friends of the National Zoo hosts ZooLights, powered by Pepco. - PGMS Salutes Smithsonian National Zoological Park for Grounds Management Excellence
The Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS) recognized the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C. with an Honor Award in the Society's 2008 Green Star Awards competition. The award was given in the Amusement Park, Theme Park, or Zoo category for exceptional grounds maintenance.
- National Zoo Photo Release: Orangutans "tailgate" at the National Zoo
Photos available for download - Tickets for the National Zoo’s Second Annual “ZooLights” On Sale Now
This holiday season the National Zoo will be at its brightest after dark as Friends of the National Zoo hosts ZooLights, powered by Pepco.
- National Zoo Photo Release: Eld's Deer Born at Conservation Research Center
Photos available for download - National Zoo and George Mason University Develop New Program for Future Conservationists
The Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park and George Mason University have joined to develop a comprehensive academic program for undergraduates, graduates and conservationists.
- National Zoo Scientists Celebrate Exciting Breakthrough in Cheetah Reproduction at Wildlife Safari park in Oregon
Excitement and expectations ran high at Wildlife Safari during the week of September 21, when for the first time in history two momentous advances were made that could have a significant impact on reproduction in captive cheetahs.
- National Zoo Receives Accreditation from Association of Zoos and Aquariums
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo has been awarded a five-year accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The accreditation certifies that the National Zoo has met or exceeded the AZA’s standards for animal care, veterinary programs, conservation, education and safety.
- National Zoo’s Giant Panda Will Not Give Birth
Staff at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo confirmed today that female giant panda Mei Xiang will not give birth to a cub this year. They believe that she experienced either a pseudopregnancy or the loss of a developing fetus. - Black-Footed Ferrets Sired by Males That Died Eight Years Ago: National Zoo Scientists Use Frozen Semen to Help Save Endangered Species
Two black-footed ferrets at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo have each given birth to a kit that was sired by males who died in 1999 and 2000. These endangered ferrets—part of a multi-institutional breeding and reintroduction program—were artificially inseminated in May with frozen semen from the two deceased males, each giving birth to a kit on June 20 and 21 respectively.
- National Zoo Photo Release: 40th kori bustard chick hatches
Photos available for download - National Zoo Photo Release: Przewalski's horse foals born at Conservation and Research Center
Photos available for download - National Zoo Photo Release: Giant Panda Tai Shan turns three
Photos available for download - National Zoo Photo Release: Recently born animals now on exhibit
Two one-month-old San Clemente goats, a two-week-old prehensile-tailed porcupine and a two-month-old greater Madagascar tenrec are now on exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
- Sunset Serenades Shine at the National Zoo
FONZ kicks off its 24th annual summer concert series, Sunset Serenades, with a performance by legendary oldies group The Orioles. - U.S. Zoos Make Major Donation to
China's Giant Pandas
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), in cooperation with The Giant Panda Conservation Foundation (GPCF), today joined the Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Zhou Wenzhong, in announcing a $165,000 donation to the China Wildlife Conservation Association to support post-earthquake panda conservation. - National Zoo Giant Panda Pregnancy Update
Scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo detected a secondary rise in urinary progestin levels in the Zoo’s female giant panda Mei Xiang earlier this month. The results from yesterday's test lead scientists to believe the hormone rise indicates that it would be mid- to late-July before Mei Xiang either gives birth to a cub or comes to the end of a pseudopregnancy, or false pregnancy, which is common in giant pandas. - National Zoo Photo Release: White-naped crane chick hatches
Photos available for download -
First Successful Reverse Vasectomy on Endangered Species Performed at the National Zoo
Veterinarians at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo performed the first successful reverse vasectomy on a Przewalski’s horse (E. ferus przewalskii; E. caballus przewalskii —classification debated), pronounced zshah-VAL-skeez. Przewalksi’s horses are a horse species native to China and Mongolia that was declared extinct in the wild in 1970. -
Male Bird at National Zoological Park Has Special Reason to Celebrate Father’s Day
How will the only male rhea at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo spend Father’s Day? He will spend it much like he has spent the past eight weeks: as a proud papa nurturing and caring for his four chicks born Apr. 20. This is the first time in some 30 years that rhea chicks have hatched at the Zoo. - National Zoo Photo Release: Tammar Wallaby Joey Born
Photos available for download
- National Zoo’s Conservation and Research Center Selected as
Candidate Core Site for National Ecological Observatory Network
Following a rigorous review process, the National Zoo’s 3,200-acre Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Va., was recently selected as a candidate core site for the National Ecological Observatory Network, a planned continental-scale ecological observatory.
- The Votes Are In: Smithsonian’s National Zoo Kiwi Chick Will Be Named “Koa”
More than 45 percent of National Zoo Web site voters selected the name “Koa” for the Zoo’s recently hatched North Island Brown kiwi. - FONZ Celebrates 50 Years
Friends of the National Zoo was established in April 1958 by a group of citizens from neighboring Cleveland Park who valued the Zoo as an important educational and cultural resource and lobbied for its funding. Fifty years later, FONZ—and its members, volunteers, and staff—have become so integral to the Zoo's operations and mission that there are few aspects of the Zoo's work that FONZ doesn't support in some way. The Zoo and FONZ will celebrate their partnership throughout 2008.
- National Zoo Kiwi Chick Is Male; Zoo Invites Public to Help Choose Name
National Zoo geneticists have determined that the North Island brown kiwi chick that hatched March 7 is male. The public is invited to help choose its name. - 2008 Giant Panda Mating Season Begins at National Zoo
National Zoo scientists and veterinarians performed a nonsurgical artificial insemination after the Zoo's giant pandas did not successfully mate. - Rare North Island Brown Kiwi Hatches at the National Zoo
On March 7, one of the world’s most endangered species—a North Island brown kiwi—hatched at the National Zoo's Bird House. - National Zoo Mourns the Loss of Treasured Colleague
David Challinor, Senior Scientist Emeritus at the National Zoo and a former Smithsonian Assistant Secretary for Science, has passed away.
- Science, Not Romance, Controls Mating at the National Zoo
This Valentine’s Day, Cupid won’t be making a stop at the National Zoo. Unlike the spontaneous attraction that most humans equate with love and romance, mating and dating at the National Zoo is planned, strategic and science-based—quite an unromantic encounter. - National Zoo Leaps to Support Year of the Frog
2008 has been designated the “Year of the Frog” by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The National Zoo and Friends of the National Zoo are joining this effort to educate the public about the global amphibian crisis. - National Zoo White-Cheeked Gibbon Euthanized
Veterinarians at the National Zoo euthanized a 35-year-old male white-cheeked gibbon on February 2.
- National Zoo Panda Cub Undergoes Physical Exam
Tai Shan, the National Zoo's two-and-a-half-year-old giant panda, received his first-ever comprehensive physical exam on January 28. - National Zoo Artificially Inseminates Asian Elephant
Veterinarians conducted two artificial insemination procedures in mid-January on Shanthi, one of the Asian elephants at the National Zoo. - Friends of the National Zoo "Rings" in the New Year with Zoo Animal Ringtones
Animal fans can carry the wild with them and support the Zoo’s conservation and education programs by downloading ringtones of 25 animal vocalizations, including those made by giant panda Tai Shan and Sumatran tiger Soyono.
