News

One week and nearly 5,000 votes after the Smithsonian’s National Zoo opened the online polls to the public to name its male and female Andean bear cubs the Zoo has two winners: Chaska, pronounced Chas'-kuh, for the female and Bernardo for the male! Animal keepers and the embassies of Peru and...

With test tubes filled with sparkling juice in hand, Smithsonian scientists and officials toast the new genetics lab, which the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute officially opened today at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Genetics research at the Zoo will help conservationists worldwide...

The two Andean bear cubs, Tremarctos ornatus (also known as the spectacled bear), that were born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in mid-January are getting ready for two big events: receiving their names May 19 and making their public debut May 22. After months of seclusion in their indoor den...

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s geneticists are ironing their lab coats and revving up their DNA sequencers for the celebration of the group’s new state-of-the-art genetics lab at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., where researchers will look at life’s smallest building blocks in...

Last evening, the National Zoo’s lion cub died. Lion keepers had been closely observing the cub, a male, via camera since his birth Tuesday morning. When keepers noticed the cub was not responding to its mother, they shifted the mother outdoors in order to examine the cub. A veterinary team...

New England forests are at a turning point. For the first time in 200 years, forest cover—which peaked at 80 percent of the landscape in 2000—has begun to decline in every New England state. If sprawl and development continue at current rates, 63 percent of the landscape may be developed by 2030...

Bati, an endangered Speke’s gazelle at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, turns 15 years old tomorrow, May 12. He was born at the St. Louis Zoo in 1995 and is the oldest documented Speke's gazelle living in a zoo. Bati will receive an ‘herbivore’s delight’ consisting of grass, herbs, shrubs and other...

Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ) is seeking volunteers with an interest in animals and their conservation to assist with upcoming events, games, projects and keeper needs. Volunteers offer invaluable support to the Zoo—they work with staff, visitors, animals, plants, independently and in groups...

Don’t miss what has become a spring tradition and one of the premier culinary events in Washington, D.C.: ZooFari! Taking place at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo on May 20 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., and hosted by the Friends of the National Zoo, ZooFari 2010 – “A Panda Bear Affair” – will bring...

A scimitar-horned oryx has joined the ranks of endangered animals born this year at the National Zoo’s conservation center in Front Royal, Va., where scientists also recently confirmed the gender of the Zoo’s nearly 3-month-old clouded leopards.

One of the loudest birds that we hear in our yards is also one of the smallest. The tiny house wren weighs only 11 grams, about the same as 2 quarters, and is a mere 4 inches long.

By Kenton Kerns, Small Mammal House Keeper at the National Zoo It’s February 24, 2010, and I am riding up and down Brazil 101, a major thoroughfare highway between Rio de Janeiro and other Brazilian cities to the north. It’s my 12th day in Brazil and I’ve come here to learn about golden lion tamarin...

As a disease known as amphibian chytrid fungus continues to wipe out amphibian species worldwide, frogs in Panama are finding a safe haven in a seemingly unlikely spot—between the metal walls of shipping containers once used to transport ice cream, strawberries, coffee beans, flowers and...

Two weeks and 7,050 votes after the Smithsonian’s National Zoo opened the online polls to the public to name its new giant Pacific octopus ( Enteroctopus dofleini), one choice has emerged as the clear victor: Octavius. “Octavius the Octopus” is more than just a pretty, alliterative name. The prefix...

Following a final ultrasound and hormone analysis, staff at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo confirmed late yesterday (Tuesday, April 27) that female giant panda Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) is not pregnant but was experiencing a pseudo, or false, pregnancy during the past several months. National Zoo...

Scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo detected a secondary rise in urinary progestagen levels in the Zoo’s female giant panda Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) March 30. This hormone rise indicates that it should be 40 to 50 days before Mei Xiang either gives birth to a cub or comes to the end of a...

A 24-hour pregnancy watch of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s female giant panda Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) is slated to begin today at 4 p.m. A corps of more than 40 Friends of the National Zoo volunteers and animal care staff will closely monitor the panda for maternal behaviors through keeper...

Shade-grown, Bird Friendly coffee is now available in five museum locations at the Smithsonian.

By Stephen Schulze, Keeper at the National Zoo’s Small Mammal House Bustard populations across the world are in decline, including those of kori bustards, the heaviest of all flighted species of bird. This past autumn, I was privileged to join a National Zoo team that travelled to Kenya to continue...

One of the world’s most endangered species—a brown kiwi Apteryx mantelli—hatched at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Bird House, early Tuesday morning, March 30. Keepers have been carefully monitoring the egg’s progress since it was laid January 19. Keepers looked for signs of pipping: the process...

It is a natural explorer in the wild and seems to have an impressive memory. It has eight arms, no spine and its very own Web cam. That is how the National Zoo describes its new giant Pacific octopus ( Enteroctopus dofleini), which has been making a name for itself over the past few weeks. The only...

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Friends of the National Zoo will continue a Washington tradition that spans more than 100 years by hosting “Easter Monday: An African American Family Tradition” April 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is free and will take place rain or shine. This year’s...

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s rare male clouded leopards Ta Moon (“mischievous child”) and Sa Ming (“brave warrior”) are one year old today! Ta Moon and Sa Ming were born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va., March 24, 2009. The leopards were served “birthday...

The ensemble of animal noises at the National Zoo will hopefully include the tiny roar of lion cubs this spring. The Zoo is attempting to build a breeding lion pride for the first time in more than 20 years, both to simulate more natural conditions for the most social of the great cats and to help...

Does your child’s teddy bear need a checkup? Families with preschool and elementary school-age children can talk to veterinarians, scale rock-climbing walls, enjoy live entertainment, feast on kid-friendly treats and much more at the National Zoo’s 16th Annual Guppy Gala sponsored by...