News Archive

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.

On May 5, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute welcomed thousands of visitors to celebrate community and diversity in recognition of International Family Equality Day.

Happy salamander Saturday! This annual holiday honoring these amazing amphibians takes place on the first Saturday in May. To celebrate, we’re counting down animal keeper Matt Neff’s top six favorite salamander facts! Stop by the Reptile Discovery Center’s Jewels of Appalachia exhibit to see these...

Many creatures, great and small, call grasslands their home, including the most diverse and abundant animals: arthropods! Knowing which grasses provide the ideal habitat for arthropods will ultimately benefit wildlife and people, too, says Virginia Working Landscapes intern Kelsey Schoenemann.

Over the winter, Bornean orangutan Redd learned some new husbandry behaviors! Read the latest #OrangutanStory from primate keeper Erin Stromberg. 

Two peanuts sit on a tray. One is beneath the curve of a tool; the other is beside a different tool, out of reach. Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Allen’s swamp monkey Nub Armstrong is eyeing both. Will he pick the tool that brings the peanut toward him? To examine whether guenons understand how tools...

A tiny egg nestled in an incubator at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute began wiggling and cracking April 22 until a featherless Guam kingfisher chick emerged. Guam kingfishers are extinct in the wild and only approximately 140 live in human care, making every chick extremely precious.

In November 2018, Smithsonian researchers spent two weeks in Peru counting and identifying fish. In part two of this story, meet more of the animals they encountered and find out how their work could help protect wildlife in this part of the Amazon.

This summer visitors can travel back millions of years as the Zoo presents "Dino Summer” featuring two dinosaur experiences of prehistoric proportions — “Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo Live,” a theater production with a larger-than-life cast of dinosaur puppets, and “DinoRoars,” an outdoor exhibit of six...

One fish, two fish, red-blue Peru tetra fish. In November 2018, Smithsonian researchers spent two weeks in Peru counting and identifying fish. In this photo essay, see some of the animals they discovered.

Wood turtles are endangered and can be difficult to find in the wild because of their cryptic nature and frequently small populations, but scientists from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) found that environmental DNA (eDNA) can be used to find them much faster.