Zoo News Archive
Sep. 08, 2017
The panda team is still waiting to find out if Mei Xiang will give birth or if she is experiencing a pseudopregnancy. Giant pandas’ hormones and behavior mimic a pregnancy even if they are...
Sep. 08, 2017
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is hosting Enrichment Day Sept. 16, ZooFiesta Sept. 24 and Conservation Discovery Day Oct. 7.
Sep. 07, 2017
After a five-year hiatus, Cheetah Conservation Station keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are celebrating the birth of a critically endangered dama gazelle. The male calf was born in an off-...
Sep. 07, 2017
ZooLights—powered by Pepco—at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is wilder than ever and a perfect holiday event for everyone in the family. Now in its 11th year, the annual free lights festival twinkles...
Sep. 06, 2017
What happens when a migratory bird’s path lands it right in an urban area like Washington, D.C.? Can the city's parks support wild birds through the breeding season, and how do their behaviors change...
Sep. 06, 2017
Smithsonian Migratory Bird Club members are invited to get out and celebrate the season with a series of bird walks this fall.
Sep. 01, 2017
The panda house is closed to the public beginning today, Sept. 1 to provide quiet for Mei Xiang as she enters the final stages of a pregnancy or pseudopregnancy.
Sep. 01, 2017
Get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how keepers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute enrich the lives of animals by presenting them with toys, training and novel food items.
Sep. 01, 2017
The youngest members of American Trail’s pinniped family have made quite the splash this summer. In June, sea lion Catalina celebrated her first birthday. Meanwhile, 7-month-old gray seal Birdie is...
Sep. 01, 2017
What animal has the ability to see in two directions at once, changes colors depending on its mood and can catch its prey with a flick of the tongue? Reptile Discovery Center keepers welcomed a brand...
Sep. 01, 2017
Smithsonian scientists are tracking endangered Asian elephants in Myanmar via satellite collars. Their efforts have revealed a troubling rise in poaching.
Aug. 31, 2017
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo welcomed two screaming hairy armadillo pups Aug. 11. The pups are the first ever born at the Zoo.
Aug. 28, 2017
Since Aug. 2, Great Cats keepers at the Smithsonian's National Zoo have been supplemental feeding the 6-week-old male Sumatran tiger cub.
Aug. 25, 2017
Mei Xiang has started exhibiting more behaviors consistent with the secondary hormone phase of a pregnancy or a pseudopregnancy. That means that she has been spending the majority of her time...
Aug. 22, 2017
Giant panda Bei Bei celebrated his second birthday Aug. 22, with a panda friendly cake made by the Smithsonian's National Zoo's department of nutrition.
Aug. 18, 2017
We’re celebrating the one-year anniversary of the reintroduction of scimitar-horned oryx to the wild! As part of the celebration, we’re asking for help naming two of our scimitar-horned oryx calves...
Aug. 18, 2017
Beginning Aug. 18, the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat will be partially closed to keep a quiet area around panda Mei Xiang’s den. Although we are not able to confirm if she is...
Aug. 18, 2017
The Giant Panda Habitat will be partially closed to keep a quiet area around female giant panda Mei Xiang’s den. Although keepers are not able to confirm if she is pregnant, Mei Xiang is exhibiting...
Aug. 16, 2017
Maja, a 13-year-old Przewalski’s horse, was humanely euthanized at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute Aug. 13, for renal failure.
Aug. 11, 2017
Veterinarians are giving Mei Xiang weekly ultrasounds to track changes in her uterus. Though it's too early to see a possible cub on an ultrasound, SCBI scientists detected a rise in hormones,...
Aug. 11, 2017
Primate keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are mourning the loss of Red Oak, a red-fronted lemur who was humanely euthanized Aug. 9.
Aug. 07, 2017
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.
Aug. 07, 2017
All across the world, scientists are tracking the movements of animals, collecting considerable data to better understand how animals migrate, what paths they take and what threats they may face...
Aug. 04, 2017
For Asian elephant keepers, working among the giants of the animal kingdom entails training, enriching and caring for the Zoo's multi-generational herd, as well as contributing to research and...
Aug. 04, 2017
Behavior can tell the giant panda team quite a bit about the pandas, but the behaviors they exhibit are only half the story. When it comes to predicting when Mei Xiang will give birth, or when she is...
