News

Potpie's three kits are more active and playful! Catch them running through their full enclosure outside the den on a brand-new webcam and keep an eye out for their progress on learning to hunt. 

Celebrate our Hartmann mountain zebra Yipes turning 1 year old with Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute keepers Tara Buk and Chris Mathews. 

The new guy in town is calm, curious and cautious. In other words, he’s one cool cat. Meet Metis, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s new 5-year-old Amur tiger! 

With a 6-foot wingspan, sharp talons and an intimidating stare, bald eagles are majestic birds. Meet Tioga and Annie—both of whom were injured in the wild and rescued—at Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s American Trail. Swoop into their care and conservation with animal keeper Ashley Graham.

Beginning today, June 30, the Smithsonian has approved an increase in the amount of visitors the Smithsonian’s National Zoo can admit daily, and an increase in our building capacities.

There is more to a flamingo than its bright pink feathers. Get to know these delightfully unusual birds with 10 fun facts — some of which may surprise you!

In late April, birds in the mid-Atlantic region began to turn up sick or dying. Scientists are trying to figure out why.

When it comes to husbandry training, giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji is a quick learner (and a very good boy)!

Potpie's three kits turned 1 month old on Saturday, June 19. This birthday is marked by their darkening fur, including the distinctive dark-furred feet and mask! Read on for the full update on our black-footed ferret kits.

How do you create a menu that is pleasing to the palates of giant pandas, flamingos and fishing cats? With more than 2,100 mouths to feed among 400 species, the Department of Nutrition Science whips up science-based bites for the Zoo’s carnivores, herbivores and everyone in between. 

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientists are one step closer to understanding why some corals can weather climate change better than others, and the secret could be in a specific protein that produces a natural sunscreen. 

From the deepest trenches to the shallowest shores and across five basins, water circulates in one interconnected system: the world ocean. This World Ocean Day, discover how seemingly different animals — sessil coral and soaring seabirds — are connected to each other, to a changing climate and to...

Whooping cranes are graceful, expressive and curious creatures. Get acquainted with these big, beautiful birds in this Q+A with Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute keeper Chris Crowe.

Slow down with Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s three southern two-toed sloths. Keeper Kara Ingraham works with Athena and Vlad in the Small Mammal House, and keeper Denny Charlton tends to Howie in Amazonia. Find out what it takes to care for these unique animals!

Carnivore keepers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, are welcoming a litter of endangered black-footed ferret kits. Three-year-old female Potpie has birthed one kit already, which was born at 3:41 p.m. and can be viewed via the Black-Footed Ferret Cam.

Local songbirds will take advantage of the abundance of cicadas, something Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center scientists are eager to study.

In new study, Smithsonian scientists and partners provide a framework for a new approach to modeling infectious diseases. It adapts established methods developed to study the planet’s natural systems, including climate change, ocean circulation and forest growth, and applies them to parasites and...

Giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji is branching out into new places to play!  Get the scoop in assistant curator Laurie Thompson’s latest #PandaStory update. 

When visitors return to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute May 21, they will find both familiar and new faces as they explore the park.

The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center has long championed the simple idea that birds matter. When we take care of birds, we take care of the interconnected natural systems that we all depend upon for survival.

The Bornean subspecies of Rajah scops owl (Otus brookii brookii), documented in the wild for the first time since 1892, may be its own unique species and deserving of a conservation designation. Published April 28, in The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center ecologist...

'Hoppy' Amphibian Awareness Week! All week long, the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute will be sharing stories about amazing amphibians and the scientists working to save them from extinction. 

Giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji is very engaged with his surroundings! Soon, he will start husbandry training, enabling him to participate in his own healthcare. See more videos in keeper Mariel Lally’s #PandaStory update. 

Crash into May with black rhinos! Dr. Francesca Vitali is a wildlife veterinarian and Morris Animal Foundation postdoctoral fellow with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Global Health Program. She is currently working with our Smithsonian partners in Kenya to help conserve Eastern...

Standing eye-to-eye with a southern cassowary, it is easy to see how this giant bird is considered the dinosaurs’ closest living relative. In October 2020, we took two of these avian ambassadors under our wing: brothers Irwin and Dundee.