News Archive

Catch up with the Zoo's Andean bears, Billie jean and Quito, with animal keeper Sara Colandrea.

In August 2019, Reptile Discovery Center keeper Matt Neff embarked on a trip that took him across the Pacific Ocean to learn about enrichment, husbandry and breeding for the second-largest salamander species on earth: the Japanese giant salamander. Check out photos and notes from his trip!

What makes (or breaks) a coral’s ability to survive rising sea temperatures? It’s a puzzling predicament, and scientists are hoping coral nurseries can help crack the code.

In Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, eastern coyotes join the ranks of top predators, along with black bears and foxes. Still, these clever canines face threats in their native habitat. Using GPS collars, scientists are about to embark on a study to piece together the movements of coyotes on the prowl.

Cheetah Conservation Station keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are mourning the loss of a female lesser kudu named Shirley, who died Sept. 28 following complications during the birthing process.

This newsletter was sent to the Zoo's surrounding community and neighbors on Sept. 25, 2019.

Global Health Program researchers co-hosted a camel medicine course for Kenyan livestock veterinarians in March to help improve camel veterinary knowledge, promote wildlife health and lower the risk of diseases.

Sydney, a 3-year-old Bennett’s wallaby, died Sept. 20 at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

Animal care, exhibits, scientific research and education programs at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute are made possible by donors.

Smithsonian scientists tracked Egyptian vultures through 44 countries across 70% of their range. They learned that vultures traveling from Western Europe had shorter, more direct routes to wintering grounds in Northern Africa than vultures traveling from Eastern Europe.

Catch the latest news about our 1.5-year-old western lowland gorilla, Moke, from primate keeper Carolina Powell.

Data show that since 1970, the U.S. and Canada have lost nearly 3 billion birds, a massive reduction in abundance involving hundreds of species, from beloved backyard songbirds to long-distance migrants.

Smithsonian researchers have studied black-throated blue warblers at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire for decades. Hear about their latest field season.

Persian onagers are not just rare in the wild, they are actually rare in zoos as well.

Cheetah Conservation Station keepers at Smithsonian’s National Zoo are mourning the loss of Zafirah, a female dama gazelle who was humanely euthanized Sept. 12. She was 9 years old.

On Sept. 4, 2019, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo held its inaugural meeting with the Zoo Neighborhood Council (ZNC). Detailed minutes of the meeting follow below.

As Bornean orangutan Redd turns 3 years old, primate keeper Erin Stromberg reflects on his exciting year.

Reproductive scientists, veterinarians and animal keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute have determined that giant panda Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) will not give birth this year.

For the first time, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is home to rare clouded leopard cubs. The two cubs are the newest residents on the Zoo’s Asia Trail and will make their public debut Wednesday, Sept. 11.

Two rare clouded leopard cubs will make their media debut on Asia Trail. They are the first cubs to ever live at the Zoo.

For wildlife veterinarians, patients can span hundreds of different species. Find out how zoo veterinarians manage to treat so many different kinds of animals, including those that are endangered and exceedingly rare.

Researchers in Virginia wanted to learn how common field management practices — like mowing, burning or animal grazing — affect birds that stay for the winter. They turned to local farmers and landowners for help.

As two orangutan infants tussled in the trees, curator of primates Meredith Bastian and primate keeper Alex Reddy looked on in awe. Over the summer, they traveled to Central Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo to follow these great apes in their native habitat.

There’s a new, adorable face at Kids’ Farm—an 11-month-old Hereford calf named Willow! Get to know her in this Q&A with animal keeper Nikki Maticic.

Listed below are events being held at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo from September through December.