News Archive

Due to rising regional and national cases related to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, all Smithsonian museums, including the National Zoo, will temporarily close to the public starting Monday, Nov. 23. This will impact the eight Smithsonian facilities in the Washington, D.C., region that had...

The African crested rat's fur is packed with a poison so lethal it can fell an elephant, and just a few milligrams can kill a human. Researchers found that it's the only mammal known to sequester plant toxins for chemical defense, and they uncovered its unexpected social life.

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is asking the public to help name the male giant panda cub, now 9.2 pounds of adorable, at the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat.

Adventure time for our giant panda cub! Over the weekend, Mei Xiang brought him into their indoor habitat to practice his crawling skills while she ate bamboo. Get the update from keeper Nicole MacCorkle.

ZooLights Express—powered by Pepco—will bring the colorful glow of Washington, D.C.’s beloved Smithsonian’s National Zoo holiday tradition into the community beginning Nov. 27. Festively decorated with light displays and featuring “Panda Claws,” the 24-foot ZooLights Express truck will hit the road...

Spending your days with a herd of bison is an idyllic way to pass a summer. I would know, because most of my days from May to August were spent observing the behaviors of a herd of about 300 bison in Montana.

Echo’s 6.5-month-old cheetah cubs’ world is growing, just as they are all growing stronger and larger too. Catch the full cubdate from biologist Adrienne Crosier.

October was an exciting month for the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s giant panda cub! His eyes and ears opened, mother Mei Xiang took him on “field trips” to explore the world outside their den and he grew bigger (and more adorable) by the day.

There are two new (adorable) kids on the block at American Trail! The team welcomed California sea lion pup Charger and North American beaver Poplar to their new homes at Smithsonian’s National Zoo this past summer.

At the Reptile Discovery Center, keepers play matchmaker to true masters of disguise: Henkel’s leaf-tailed geckos!

They’re bossy, playful and always in the mood for food—meet Lucy and Gally, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s new American Bison!

It’s hard to believe our giant panda cub will be 11 weeks old tomorrow! Yesterday, the panda team took quickly checked our growing cub’s weight and measurements.

On Saturday, our giant panda family got into the Halloween spirit, thanks to the talented team in our Department of Nutrition Sciences. They whipped up some not-so-spooky “snack-o-lantern” treats for male Tian Tian and female Mei Xiang.

Find comprehensive resources for media on the giant panda cub.

The afternoon of Oct. 28, giant panda mother Mei Xiang went outside to eat, per her new routine. The giant panda team took the opportunity to briefly weigh and measure our cub.

Swing along with primate keeper Emily Bricker as she shares her stories about caring for orangutans.

If you’ve caught a glimpse of our cub on the Giant Panda Cam lately, you may have noticed that he likes to sleep on his back. It’s very cute to watch!

On Peru’s pacific coastline, where desert meets sea, lives one of the least studied and most at-risk birds: the Peruvian tern. This bird's desert camouflage makes it almost impossible to track, but that’s exactly what our team set out to do.

En la costa del Pacífico peruano, donde el desierto se encuentra con el mar, vive una de las aves menos estudiadas y en mayor riesgo: el gaviotín peruano ( Sternula lorata), también conocido como el gaviotín chico.

Oct. 24 is International Gibbon Day, so take a few minutes to learn all about these acrobatic apes.

It’s official—our giant panda cub is as round as he is long, received his first vaccine and is 100% adorable.

Although our giant panda cub is still perfecting his crawling skills, mother Mei Xiang is helping her son see the world beyond their den. Over the weekend, the pair took a brief “field trip” into their large enclosure, where the cub got a glimpse of their indoor habitat.

Tomorrow, our giant panda cub will be eight weeks old! Mei Xiang has always been a devoted mother to her cubs, and this little guy is no exception.

This update was written by Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute cheetah biologist Adrienne Crosier and animal keeper intern Shannon Richard.

American Trail keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are mourning the loss of Coby, a female gray wolf who was humanely euthanized Sept. 30. At 16 years old, Coby was considered geriatric for her species.