Press Release Archive

Keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are mourning the loss of Minnesota, a Przewalski’s horse who was humanely euthanized yesterday morning.

Kids’ Farm keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are mourning the loss of Tulip, a 13-year-old Holstein cow who was humanely euthanized July 24.

Two litters of red panda cubs were born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute last month within days of each other.

A new cryopreservation study has sweeping implications for wildlife conservation and human health. In a paper published July 13 in ACS Nano, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and University of Minnesota provide the first-ever reproducible evidence for the successful cryopreservation of...

Great Cats keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are celebrating the birth of a Sumatran tiger, a critically endangered species. The cub’s mother, 8-year-old Damai, gave birth at 4:17 p.m. on July 11.

An adult female red panda and an adult female dama gazelle died at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute during the past week. Both deaths were the result of natural causes.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) humanely euthanized a X-year-old female scimitar-horned oryx, named Jenna, on June 18.

Keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are celebrating a conservation success five years in the making: a pair of Bourret’s box turtle hatchlings.

In the largest camera-trap study ever conducted in a forest canopy, Smithsonian scientists and partners found that tree-dwelling mammals were willing to travel using intentionally preserved natural bridges.

The James Smithson Bicentennial Medal will be presented Sept. 28 to Harrison Ford and Betty White to honor their commitment to wildlife and efforts to create a sustainable planet. The medals will be presented by Smithsonian Secretary David Skorton at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation...

Ninety Limosa harlequin frogs bred in human care are braving the elements of the wild after Smithsonian scientists sent them out into the Panamanian rainforest as part of their first-ever release trial in May.

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s team of reproductive scientists, veterinarians and panda keepers performed two artificial inseminations on female giant panda Mei Xiang.

Four years after conservationists relocated 570 desert tortoises in California from a threatened habitat to a nearby location, the tortoises outwardly appeared to have successfully acclimated. Genetic paternity testing of 92 hatchlings by SCBI geneticists, however, has revealed that the translocated...

The loss of intact forest cover in Myanmar has accelerated over the past decade, according to a study by Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) scientists and partners published May 17 in PLOS ONE.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) is celebrating the upcoming Endangered Species Day (May 19) with a slew of new births of endangered and vulnerable species. The births have ranged from mammals to birds, and some of the new arrivals will be reintroduced to the wild later this...

The period of a migratory bird’s annual cycle thought to be the most perilous—its twice-annual journeys over oceans and inhospitable landscapes—is also the least understood. A new collaborative study led by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) synthesizes what is already known and outlines...

The ability of some conifer forests to recover after severe fire may become increasingly limited as the climate continues to warm, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) scientists found in a new study published today in Global Change Biology. Although most of these cone-bearing evergreen...

Smithsonian scientists have discovered two new gecko species, the Lenya banded bent-toed gecko and Tenasserim Mountain bent-toed gecko, in the little-studied lowland forests of Myanmar.

Keepers at the National Zoo’s Small Mammal House are mourning the loss of Zikki, a golden-headed lion tamarin who was humanely euthanized April 8. At 17 years old, Zikki was considered geriatric for her species.

The start of spring brought a cheetah cub boom to the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) in Front Royal, Virginia, where two large litters were born over the course of a single week.

After a ten-year hiatus, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute repatriated three female Guam rails to their native Guam. The birds, referred to as ko’ko’ locally, departed Virginia on Sunday, March 19 and arrived in Guam early March 21.

Tool use by sea otters to break open well-armored food is not necessarily a family matter, according to a new study published this week by the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) and partners.

The Smithsonian's National Zoo is celebrating Easter Monday: A Washington Family Tradition (April 17), Earth Optimism Summit (April 21 - 23), Earth Optimism Day (April 22) and International Migratory Bird Day (May 6).

The Smithsonian will convene the first Earth Optimism Summit, a three-day event featuring more than 150 scientists, thought leaders, philanthropists, conservationists and civic leaders, which will highlight what is working in conservation and how to scale up and replicate it.