News Archive

Green Hill Barn, where our herd of Persian onager mares lives, has been full of excitement during the past few weeks since the arrival of our first foal of the year.

American Trail keepers at Smithsonian’s National Zoo are mourning the loss of a 3-year-old female California sea lion named Catalina, who died Aug. 20.

Bei Bei (BAY-BAY) turned 4 years old today, Aug. 22. The Department of Nutrition Science at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo made him a panda-friendly frozen cake as a birthday treat.

By the end of August Bei Bei will be another year older! He will receive a panda-friendly frozen cake specially made by the Zoo’s Department of Nutrition Science to celebrate during the morning of Aug. 22.

Giant panda Bei Bei will receive a panda-friendly frozen cake specially made by the Zoo’s Department of Nutrition Science.

Our sea lion pup is making a splash behind the scenes at American Trail! Get the latest 'pupdate' from animal keeper Sam Milne.

What’s better than a dad joke? An animal joke! August 16 is National Tell a Joke Day. So get your laugh tracks ready, because we’ve got a few toadally awesome animal jokes that are sure to leave kids quacking up.

The Smithsonian's National Zoo is mourning the loss of an 11-month-old male dama gazelle named Gustav who died Aug. 7.

Kids’ Farm keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo welcomed a new member to the cattle herd—a 10-month-old female Hereford calf named Willow. Her arrival bumps the number of cattle at the Kids’ Farm up to three, as she joins the Zoo’s 16-year-old Hereford heifer Rose and 1-year-old female Holstein...

How can you begin to study something as vast and diverse as the American prairie? Find out in the latest blog from landscape ecologist Hila Shamon who is stationed at American Prairie Reserve in Montana.

Even though Persian onagers are a herd species and prefer to live in groups, they don’t have a “hive” mind, they each have distinct personalities!

Primate keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are mourning the loss of Flare, an elderly red-fronted lemur who was humanely euthanized Aug. 6. At 33 years old, she was one of the oldest red-fronted lemurs in North America. The median life expectancy for this species is about 22 years for both...

Scientists, veterinarians and keepers have been monitoring Mei Xiang closely for the past several months to determine if she is pregnant or experiencing a pseudopregnancy.

Local citizen scientists working with the Changing Landscapes Initiative and Virginia Working Landscapes, both programs of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), discovered a rare orchid that is nearly extinct in the commonwealth of Virginia.

Meet Henderson and Kingston—two white-eared titi monkeys that live in Amazonia’s rainforest habitat! Get to know them in this Q&A with animal keeper Donna Stockton.

Three new Home’s hinge-back tortoises recently made their debut at the Reptile Discovery Center! Get the scoop on these totally awesome tortoises from animal keeper Sara Hasenstab.

All seasons on the prairie are special. But spring is just a little more special than the rest, as every day birds return for summer breeding season.

For the past 40 years, brown-headed cowbirds have been trapped and killed in Michigan to prevent them from laying eggs in endangered Kirtland’s warbler nests—causing warbler parents to care for cowbird chicks instead of their own chicks.

Persian onagers are an amazing species! And even though they are not one of the iconic species that you may know, as someone who gets to care for them and spend time with them every day, let me tell you just how amazing they are.

This summer, Abyssinian ground hornbill Karl got a new roommate — a hornbill named Karoline! The pair met in June, but their story really began two years ago when keepers decided to build Karl a new beak.

At first glance, Virginia’s farmlands seem quite peaceful. But beneath the swaying fields of hay lies a bustling ecosystem for the birds that call the grasslands home. One such avian animal—the eastern meadowlark—is key to the health of its habitat.

Excitement is in the air at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, where hoofstock keepers are eagerly anticipating the births of three Persian onagers! Get to know this rare and endangered species in this Q&A with supervisory biologist Dolores Reed.

Kristina Anderson-Teixeira—a forest ecologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s (SCBI) Conservation Ecology Center and at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s Center for Tropical Forest Science—is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and...

During the past several weeks, Bei Bei has been experiencing some gastrointestinal discomfort which has caused him to pass several mucous stools and loose stools.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's herd of scimitar-horned oryx is growing. Keepers welcomed five calves during the past few weeks.