News Archive

Happy Orangutan Caring Week! We’re celebrating the Zoo’s seven orangutans by sharing their stories.

Redd Update

Here’s lookin’ at you, kid! At 8 weeks old, our Bornean orangutan Redd is alert, attentive and making eye contact with those around him. His social circle is expanding, too. Earlier this...

Bei Bei is becoming more and more independent from his mother Mei Xiang every day. It is hard to believe, but the time is rapidly approaching when he will live separately from her. He has a voracious appetite, and relies very little on milk from Mei Xiang. He weighs 90 pounds (the largest of Mei...

The first Przewalski’s (cha-VAL-skee) horse born from artificial insemination moved from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) to the Dakota Zoo in Bismarck, N.D., today, Nov. 21. The move is based on a breeding recommendation. The mare, Christine, was born July 27, 2013, and her...

On Nov. 7 2016, approximately 800 big-headed turtles (Platysternon megacephalum) were confiscated from Chinese traders arrested in Tachileik, Myanmar. Dr. Marc Valitutto of Smithsonian Global Health, stationed in Myanmar to conduct pangolin health research, was called upon to provide lifesaving...

The Smithsonian's National Zoo’s senior female gray seal, Selkie, died today. At 43 years old, Selkie was the oldest gray seal living in human care. The lifespan of a wild gray seal is usually 25 or 30 years. Typically, female gray seals in human care can live close to 40 years; male seals live...

The Smithsonian National Zoo's new agouti needs a name and we need your help!  

As mom is “Hazelnut,” dad is “Pistachio” and sibling #1 is “Coconut,” the new agouti will help complete the mixed “nut” exhibit at the Small Mammal House. Native to South America and similar in appearance to a Guinea...

I traveled to the United Arab Emirates in early October to work on the second release of Scimitar-horned Oryx with our collaborators from the Environment Agency—Abu Dhabi (EAD). Scimitar-horned oryx are a desert antelope native to Northern Africa.  The first release was completed over the summer...

SCBI's Center for Conservation and Sustainability is in Peru's Amarakaeri Communal Reserve recording how life is responding to an area of the forest designated for natural gas exploration. Researchers Tremaine Gregory and Jessica Deichmann give us the scoop on their findings in this Science Q&A.

ZooLights, powered by Pepco, at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is wilder than ever and a perfect holiday event for families. Hosted by Friends of the National Zoo, the festival will run over 35 days and features thousands of environmentally friendly LED lights.

A 23-year-old male Andean bear named Cisco died at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo Oct. 24 during an emergency veterinary exam. In the past week, Cisco became less active and began breathing more heavily with an occasional cough. Those signs worsened over the weekend and his appetite declined, which...

Giant panda Bao Bao will depart the Smithsonian’s National Zoo for China in late winter, within the first few months of 2017.

Read on for some of the most frequently asked questions about Bao Bao's departure.

A 21-year-old female sloth bear named Hana was humanely euthanized at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo Monday, Oct. 17. In human care, sloth bears typically have a median life expectancy of early-to-mid 20s.

Hana exhibited signs of lethargy and discomfort as well as a decline in appetite over the...

Smithsonian's Global Health Program (SGHP), through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) PREDICT program, aims to strengthen developing countries’ ability to detect, control and prevent infectious diseases.

Smithsonian's Global Health Program is a contributor to the partnership between the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute and India’s Central Zoo Authority. This collaboration aims to share best-practices in veterinary medicine and diagnostics with zoos in India, which are...

In Kenya, the Smithsonian Institution maintains a close collaboration with the Mpala Research Center and Ranch (MRC) located in Laikipia County.

Our veterinary team visited the giant panda habitat last week for routine checkups on all of the pandas. Of special note in Bei Bei's check-up, the team successfully collected blood and gave him two vaccinations. He held still for the procedure because keepers treated him to honey water. Keepers...

When a mysterious disease emerged in Kenyan black and white rhinos, Dr. Kali Holder headed Kenya to examine samples and train technicians in sample processing, hoping to discover clues to the cause of the disease.

If you want to understand why trees are dying, just ask Kristina Anderson-Teixeira.

Anderson-Teixeira’s job is to study forests and their interactions with climate. As a research biologist at SCBI’s Conservation Ecology Center, one of her particular interests is patterns in tree mortality.

The...

For many endangered species, their future is only as promising as their genes are diverse. Genetic diversity is key to a population that is self-sustaining and can more effectively fight off disease. When it comes to cranes, which mate for life and produce relatively poor semen samples, bolstering...

What’s a zoo to do when an orangutan has the sniffles? Treatment depends on whether the infection is viral or bacterial, says Priscilla Joyner, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s (SCBI’s) veterinary medical officer. She has teamed up with colleagues at the University of Miami to...

Since 1968 the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute's scientists, animal keepers and researchers have been working to save kiwi from extinction. There's more to this unique bird than meets the eye—check out the fun facts below! 

• The lifespan of kiwi both in the wild and...

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute welcomed an Eld’s deer fawn Oct. 2 around 4:30 p.m. Both the fawn and her mom Sienna appear to be doing well and the fawn is nursing. This is Sienna’s second fawn and the first for the fawn’s dad, Duffy. Keepers will weigh her several times a week to...

A conservationist’s work is never done. At least, it doesn’t stop when a species is returned to its native habitat.

Instead, scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s (SCBI) Conservation Ecology Center use satellite tracking collars to understand the challenges animals face...

For the first time in more than 15 years, zebras are grazing the fields at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) in Front Royal, Va. In the next year, scientists will work to gain an understanding of zebra biology and develop artificial insemination techniques that will help ensure a...