News

A new set of flippers splashed down at Smithsonian’s National Zoo, where American Trail keepers are celebrating the arrival of a California sea lion pup. Animal care staff are closely monitoring the pup—born June 23—in an off-exhibit area.

Moonlight, a 4-year-old red panda, gave birth to a cub overnight June 12 at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia. Moonlight and the cub appear to be doing well and keepers are cautiously optimistic that the cub will continue to grow. 

Visitors to Washington, D.C., can expect warm weather and humidity this season. But not to worry — we’ve rounded up a few of the best ways to beat the heat at the Zoo this summer.

The study, which is among the first genomic studies on otters, found that both the sea otter and giant otter have lost a considerable number of genes related to the sense of smell — a faculty that is not essential underwater.

A small beak broke through one of the hooded crane eggs at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) in Front Royal, Virginia, June 12.

Treat dad like the king (of the jungle) he is at the Smithsonian's National Zoo!

Large animals, like the Asian elephants, have evolved to grow and mature at a different rate than many smaller species monitored by organizations like the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 

We are sad to share that 4-year-old North American beaver Birch died suddenly June 3.

Read a copy of the testimony the director of the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute gave before House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on June 4, 2019.

With two youngsters, Moke and Redd, growing up at the Great Ape House, primate staff are taking the rare opportunity to study the gestures and spatial proximity between gorilla and orangutan mother-infant dyads.

For four years, the Reptile Discovery Center’s Asian water dragon female lived alone. Then, while examining eggs as part of a study, animal keepers made a shocking discovery—one was fertile! How could a female lay a fertile egg without a mate? They turned to the Smithsonian Conservation Biology...

Life found a way at Smithsonian’s National Zoo, where a female Asian water dragon at the Reptile Discovery Center underwent facultative parthenogenesis—that is, she reproduced and contributed a healthy, thriving offspring to her species despite never breeding with a male or receiving genetic...

Education is often touted as the answer to large-scale issues like health security. But what does this actually look like on the ground? In late March, Global Health Program staff traveled to Laikipia County in Kenya to participate in community engagement and education activities.

Smithsonian veterinary research fellow Dr. Maureen Wanjiku Kamau is leading a study on wild eastern black rhinos in Kenya. Find out how her team is using poop to learn more about rhino reproduction.

The Zoo's 4-month-old North American river otter pups are gaining confidence and exploring their habitat on American Trail, says animal keeper Jackie Spicer. 

A new study from SCBI and partners compares the bacterial communities (microbiome) in the gut of wild rhinos to that of those in human care, resulting in a recommendation for a health-boosting rhino diet.

Smokey Bear has been preventing wildfires for 75 years. In celebration, we’ve collaborated with the Forest Service to bring Zoo visitors a new exhibit highlighting the story of this famous bear.

In April, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center spent two weeks in Texas for the second season of “Ecology of Urban Birds,” a program that brings middle school students into the field with Smithsonian scientists.

A new Smokey Bear outdoor exhibit opened May 23 inviting visitors to look back in time to the mid-20th century, when a black bear cub was rescued from a forest fire and placed under the Zoo’s care. Archival photographs and 14 colorful posters line the pathway in front of Smokey Bear’s former habitat...

A new Smokey Bear outdoor exhibit will open at Smithsonian’s National Zoo Thursday, May 23, inviting visitors to look back at the legacy of one of the most famous residents in the Zoo’s 130-year history. A public celebration, beginning at 10 a.m., will follow brief remarks and a ceremonial ribbon...

Roughly a month and a half after Mei Xiang’s artificial insemination, things at the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat are settling into their regular routine. 

Like many aging animals, Asian elephant Shanthi has osteoarthritis. She was first diagnosed with the chronic condition when she was in her teens. Zoo keepers and veterinarians have spent decades successfully managing her disease with multi-modal therapies.

DNA is the ultimate library, and scientists at SCBI’s Center for Species Survival and Center for Conservation Genomics are cataloging it as diligently as any librarians. 

Listed below are events being held June through August as part of the “Dino Summer” experience at Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

Landscape ecologist Hila Shamon spent the first two weeks of April working with American Prairie Reserve to place GPS collars on plains bison.