Press Release Archive

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

The Great Ape house will reopen on Tuesday morning. This will be the first opportunity for the visitors and the media to see the Zoo’s infant Bornean orangutan born to Batang on Sept. 12.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) in Front Royal, Va., will open to the public for its annual Autumn Conservation Festival Oct. 1 and 2. The festival is the only time of year when the breeding and research facility is open to the public. The 3,200-acre facility serves as...

For the first time in 25 years, primate staff at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are celebrating the birth of a male Bornean orangutan. He was born at 8:52 p.m. Sept. 12. Both 19 years old, female Batang and male Kyle bred in January following a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos...

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is proud to announce Jonathan D. Ballou, research scientist emeritus, has received the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)’s prestigious Devra Kleiman Scientific Advancement Award for outstanding scientific research contributions...

Ever since 41-year-old Asian elephant Shanthi was diagnosed with arthritis in her front wrists more than a decade ago, animal care staff at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo have been working to minimize the impact of the disease. Staff surmised that arthritic pain led Shanthi to bear weight on her...

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientists, as part of a team of international researchers, have shed light on the genetics of the pangolin, a mammalian mystery.

Visitors to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo can view 2-month-old female sea lion Catalina making a splash on American Trail. Born June 26, Catalina is the first sea lion pup born at the Zoo in 32 years. Since Aug. 22, she has been slowly acclimating to the exhibit and exploring alongside 11-year-old...

The Smithsonian's National Zoo is home to a new male Sumatran tiger. Sparky is acclimating to his new home and can be seen at the Great Cats Exhibit. The 12-year-old tiger came to the Zoo on a breeding recommendation from the Sumatran Tiger Species Survival Plan. Sparky has never sired a litter of...

Thirty years after the scimitar-horned oryx were driven to extinction, the desert antelope will return to the last-known place it existed: Chad's Sahelian grasslands. The reintroduction--the culmination of decades of work--is being led by the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD), the government of...

WHAT: A traditional Zhuazhou ceremony for giant panda cub Bei Bei. ( Media opportunity only. Not open to the public. Public celebration for Bei Bei, Bao Bao and Tian Tian's birthday begins at 11 a.m.) WHEN: Saturday, Aug. 20 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.: Zhuazhou ceremony 1 p.m.: Giant pandas receive frozen...

Two red pandas died at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute on consecutive days, July 24 and 25. The initial necropsy results and investigation do not reveal an obvious cause of death nor do the results link the deaths. The two male red pandas, along with the rest of the collection, were...

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) hatched its first hooded crane chick June 14. The chick was born as the result of artificial insemination. The chick is being raised by its parents and appears to be doing well. This is the first chick for Tempest (female) and Mr. Crane (male)...

For the first time in more than 15 years, zebras will graze the fields at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) in Front Royal, Va. Three Hartmann's mountain zebras—two females (Yvonne and Xolani) and one male (Raylan)—came out of quarantine last week at SCBI. The Association of Zoos...

Bird House keepers at the Smithsonian's National Zoo are celebrating the arrival of a Stanley crane chick, hatched July 10 to the Zoo's 27-year-old female and 17-year-old male. Animal care staff are monitoring the chick closely and report that it appears to be alert and strong, and the parents are...

For the first time in 32 years, the Smithsonian's National Zoo's American Trail team celebrated the arrival of a sea lion pup, born June 26 to 11-year-old mother Calli. Keepers watched the birth in an off-exhibit area and continue to closely monitor the pup, which appears to be nursing, moving and...

The Smithsonian's National Zoo recently welcomed two new residents to its Cheetah Conservation Station: maned wolves.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) humanely euthanized a 1-year-old female scimitar-horned oryx, after sustaining a severe spinal injury on June 25. The yearling inadvertently separated herself from her herd as they were moving from one pasture to another through a chute. In an...

The planet's last stronghold of wild cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) is losing genetic diversity at an alarming rate according to a new study from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) and partners published June 21 in the journal Biological Conservation. This is in direct contrast with...

Not even pioneering assisted-reproduction techniques can bolster the odds of successful reproduction in bleached coral reefs, according to a new study from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) and the University of Hawaii. The findings, which were published June 17, in Reproduction...

The National Zoo's senior male sloth bear, 25-year-old Francois, was humanely euthanized yesterday. In human care, sloth bears typically have a median life expectancy of early-to-mid 20s. A final pathology report will provide more information in the coming weeks. Animal care staff had kept a close...

For the first time in 25 years, staff at the Smithsonian's National Zoo are making preparations for the highly anticipated birth of an endangered Bornean orangutan. With a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan (SSP), the 19-year-old parents to be...