News Archive

Our sweet panda cub had his first taste of sweet potato. Spoiler alert: he gobbled it up.

The cheetah cubs' adult teeth are coming in, and carnivore keepers are documenting each development. Echo's 9-month-old cubs are SCBI's first litter of cheetahs to participate in this type of tracking.

Giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji’s word of the week seems to be: play! Our 4.5-month-old cub’s interest in his surroundings really took off this week.

Cuckoos are extremely secretive birds and difficult to spot. Researchers are developing a tool, using remote sound recorders and artificial intelligence, to help detect them.

Spending more time out of the den presents giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji with more opportunities to explore—and play!

Lions, tigers, cheetahs and bobcats – let’s play! Keepers Katy Juliano, Adri Kopp and Amber Dedrick know how to get the big cats they work with pouncing, roaring and purring for enrichment.

The Reptile Discovery Center team is warming up to a new monitor lizard this winter. The young Komodo dragon, named Onyx, moved into his new habitat Dec. 10.

Bird keeper Wesley Bailey shares an update on the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's success breding brown kiwi.

As the calendar turns to 2021, it is human nature to reflect on the moments that sparked inspiration in an otherwise challenging year. Giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji gave many who follow his milestones a reason to smile.

In the midst of the pandemic, as the story goes, a team set out to bring swift foxes back to a land they had disappeared from more than 50 years ago. Learn more in this update from landscape ecologist Hila Shamon.

Giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji continues to explore and take on new challenges—like climbing up rockwork in the indoor habitat he shares with mother Mei Xiang.