News Archive

An international study led by The Australian National University (ANU) has found that a fungal disease has caused dramatic population declines in at least 501 amphibian species, including 90 extinctions, over the past 50 years. 

A female brown kiwi chick hatched at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) Feb. 3 and is thriving after initially requiring veterinary care. The chick had difficulty hatching, and her legs appeared to be weak.

Amani (Ah-MON-ee), an elderly cheetah living at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, was humanely euthanized Feb. 19. 

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, welcomed a new fawn to its herd of endangered Eld’s deer Oct. 26.

For the first time, scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute have successfully cryopreserved (or frozen) and thawed coral larvae from the mushroom coral.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) welcomed a litter of three cheetah cubs Sept. 22. The cubs were born to first-time mother, Sukiri.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's seven cubs are thriving! They received a clean bill of health at their first veterinary exam.

A public vote decided the names of three endangered Przewalski’s (sha-VAL-ski) horse colts at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) in Front Royal, Virginia.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute welcomed a litter of seven chirping cheetah cubs July 9. The cubs appear to be healthy and doing well.

A scimitar-horned oryx calf was born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, June 30. The calf was conceived by artificial insemination with sperm that was cryopreserved (frozen) in 2011, and the calf’s mother did not need to be anesthetized for the procedure — a...

A female Guam kingfisher, a brightly colored bird and one of the most endangered bird species on the planet, hatched at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) in Front Royal, Virginia, May 17. 

A female Guam kingfisher, one of the planet's most endangered bird species, hatched at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute on May 17.

Smithsonian scientists are part of an expanding global effort set to tackle what could be the most ambitious project in the history of biology—sequencing the DNA of all eukaryotic species on Earth, which includes all plants, animals, fungi and algae.

The beginning of March was a whirlwind at the Giant Panda Habitat. Mei Xiang finally went into peak estrus March 1 after the panda team had been monitoring her and Tian Tian 24-hours-a-day for nearly a week. There is always a lot of activity around the panda house when Mei Xiang is approaching peak...

Senior Scientist and Head of the Center for Species Survival at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute David Wildt has been chosen to receive the 2017 Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar Award in the Sciences.

Four maned wolf pups were born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute Dec. 23, 2017. During much of their first weeks they were nestled in a den but are now exploring more areas of their yard. 

An egg-citing new finding from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute could help bolster the success of assisted reproduction for some of the most endangered species—with implications for human reproduction, too.

Once common along highland streams in western Costa Rica and Panama, the variable harlequin frog, Atelopus varius, is endangered throughout its range, decimated by a disease caused by the amphibian chytrid fungus. On Jan. 17, 2018, Smithsonian researchers released approximately 500 frogs at First...

A new study from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute is helping to make headway in an area of animal management that has historically proven challenging: the breeding of cheetahs under human care.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute hatched two Guam rail chicks earlier this month. The hatchings are a boon for the species, which is currently classified as “extinct in the wild” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), although there are small populations that...

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Przewalksi's horse colt Zygmund (or “Ziggy” as keepers affectionately refer to him) is growing into a powerful stallion. 

As global warming, acidification and disease threaten a healthy future for the world’s coral reefs, conservationists in recent years have turned to the lab to study advanced reproductive methods, especially cryopreservation—or the freezing of coral eggs, sperm and other material—as a tool to produce...

Two female Guam rails born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, were released to the wild in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Sept. 18. This month’s release marks the first time since 1985 that there are more Guam rails in the wild than in human...

An endangered brown kiwi chick kicked her way out of her egg at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) in Front Royal, Virginia, between Saturday, July 29, and Sunday, July 30.

Animal keepers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute are hand-raising a dama gazelle calf. The male calf was born July 4.