Read Some of the Most Exciting Stories From the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in 2024

Dozens of black-footed ferret mothers have given birth to healthy kits at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. Antonia is the only one of them who started her life as a clone. 

Antonia, who was cloned from Willa, a ferret who died in the 1980’s, gave birth to two kits at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute this year. This marks the first time in history an endangered species from the United States gave birth to healthy offspring. Antonia’s kits, born as part of a collective black-footed ferret recovery program, could deliver a much-needed boost to the genetic diversity of this endangered population. 

The sihek, or Guam kingfisher, once again stands a chance at survival. Without natural defenses against the invasive brown tree snake, native forest birds like the sihek were declared extinct in the wild just a few decades after’s the snake’s accidental introduction to the island during the 20th century.

Thanks to a breeding program in zoos and wildlife facilities, hope remained for the few sihek that remained. Smithsonian scientists worked with partners to establish a wild population of the critically endangered birds on a protected Pacific island earlier this year. 

Six years ago, Walnut the crane made headlines as ‘the crane who fell in love with a human’. The rare and graceful bird had imprinted on human caregivers as a chick, which may be why she chose one of her keepers, Chris Crowe, as her mate. Uncover the legacy of this unusual crane and learn how she contributed to the survival of her species. 

It sounds like science fiction, but according to Smithsonian scientist Mary Hagedorn, it could someday be a reality.

A team of Smithsonian scientists are proposing the creation of a biorepository, or a vault of preserved biological samples, in the shadowy craters of the Moon. Dive into the science behind what the researchers are envisioning—and learn why it might be necessary to create a “backup” of life on Earth.

Roads create connectivity for humans in isolated areas. But for wildlife, development can have deadly consequences. 

Smithsonian biologist Fernanda Abra is partnering with tribal communities to bridge western science and indigenous knowledge in the Amazon. Her efforts to create low-cost canopy bridges over highways are saving wildlife and helping solve the rainforest’s connectivity crisis.

For Smithsonian ecologist Joe Kolowski and his team, protecting threatened American kestrels means equipping individual birds with some remarkable gear: more than 60 tiny, solar-powered tracking backpacks.

Watch this short social media update to see how Kolowski and other researchers from Virginia Working Landscapes are harnessing modern tech to capture information that will inform future efforts to save grassland birds. 

After six years of trial and error, Smithsonian research associate Gina Della Togna finally cracked the code to breed critically endangered variable harlequin frogs at the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project. 

In an episode of documentary series Wild Hope, Dr. Della Togna explained how a special cocktail of hormones can help frogs produce reproductive cells on command — a necessary step in saving this dwindling population.

Want more conservation stories? Discover what’s on the horizon in 2025 with monthly email updates from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.