Press Release Archive

Once believed to be extinct, black-footed ferrets have had a banner year for breeding at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s conservation facility in Front Royal, Va. Twelve litters of black-footed ferrets have been born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute since May 7, including litters...

Four years of work by a team of scientists, veterinarians, animal care specialists and interns from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va., and ”The Wilds” in Cumberland, Ohio, have culminated in the birth of two rare Persian onagers ( on- uh-ger). The foals, born at The...

After a voyage that has united two cultures in an international conservation effort, one of Japan’s “special natural treasures” is now among the National Zoo’s most valued scientific gems. The Japanese giant salamanders given to the Zoo by the City of Hiroshima Asa Zoological Park will be the...

The National Zoo euthanized the 15-year-old Speke’s gazelle named Bati today after animal care staff determined his health had declined significantly due to his advanced age. Per standard procedure, a necropsy will be performed. He was the oldest documented Speke’s gazelle living in a zoo and the...

WhatOpening of the National Zoo’s Japanese giant salamander breeding facility WhenThursday, July 2210:30 a.m. WhereReptile Discovery Center3001 Connecticut Avenue N.W.(Park in Lot B) WhoIchiro Fujisaki, ambassador, Embassy of Japan in the United StatesEva Pell, Under Secretary for Science...

The recent discovery of what may be three new frog species by researchers in Panama illustrates the hope and fear encountered daily by the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project. The discoveries lead to hope that project researchers can save these animals from a deadly fungus killing frogs...

Visitors can celebrate the beauty of gardens at the National Zoo’s first Family Garden Day Saturday, July 10, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The free event focuses on the Zoo’s unique collection of gardens and aims to educate visitors about conservation and how plants and animals coexist. It includes a...

Visits to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo just became a little bit sweeter with the arrival of a new honeybee colony. With a hive made of glass in the Zoo’s Pollinarium and full access to the outdoors, these bees are showing off the wondrous ways of their world. “Our display allows you to get up...

Standing an impressive 12 feet tall with vibrant yellow flowers at its tip, the agave plant is in bloom at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. The plant, whose Latin name is Agave parryi, has been at the Zoo for many years, but the exact age of the plant is unknown. An agave plant blooms once in its...

It was love at first sight for Shama and Tate, the red pandas at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, and now, nearly 1½ years after they were introduced, the pair has a cub as evidence of their strong bond. On Wednesday, June 16, Shama gave birth to a single cub—the first for both of the Zoo’s red...

One, possibly two, red-billed hornbill chicks hatched in early May at the National Zoo’s Bird House. This is the first red-billed hornbill hatching at the Zoo since 1994. However, due to this species’ peculiar nesting behavior, it was only recently that keepers have been able to confirm one chick....

The newest sloth bear ( Melursus ursinus)at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is not so new at all—born at the Zoo, his debut on Asia Trail marks his homecoming after seven years. Francois, a 260-pound, 19-year-old bear, was born at the Zoo in 1991 and was later moved to the Little Rock Zoo in Arkansas...

One week and nearly 5,000 votes after the Smithsonian’s National Zoo opened the online polls to the public to name its male and female Andean bear cubs the Zoo has two winners: Chaska, pronounced Chas'-kuh, for the female and Bernardo for the male! Animal keepers and the embassies of Peru and...

With test tubes filled with sparkling juice in hand, Smithsonian scientists and officials toast the new genetics lab, which the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute officially opened today at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Genetics research at the Zoo will help conservationists worldwide...

The two Andean bear cubs, Tremarctos ornatus (also known as the spectacled bear), that were born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in mid-January are getting ready for two big events: receiving their names May 19 and making their public debut May 22. After months of seclusion in their indoor den...

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s geneticists are ironing their lab coats and revving up their DNA sequencers for the celebration of the group’s new state-of-the-art genetics lab at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., where researchers will look at life’s smallest building blocks in...

Last evening, the National Zoo’s lion cub died. Lion keepers had been closely observing the cub, a male, via camera since his birth Tuesday morning. When keepers noticed the cub was not responding to its mother, they shifted the mother outdoors in order to examine the cub. A veterinary team...

New England forests are at a turning point. For the first time in 200 years, forest cover—which peaked at 80 percent of the landscape in 2000—has begun to decline in every New England state. If sprawl and development continue at current rates, 63 percent of the landscape may be developed by 2030...

Bati, an endangered Speke’s gazelle at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, turns 15 years old tomorrow, May 12. He was born at the St. Louis Zoo in 1995 and is the oldest documented Speke's gazelle living in a zoo. Bati will receive an ‘herbivore’s delight’ consisting of grass, herbs, shrubs and other...

Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ) is seeking volunteers with an interest in animals and their conservation to assist with upcoming events, games, projects and keeper needs. Volunteers offer invaluable support to the Zoo—they work with staff, visitors, animals, plants, independently and in groups...

Don’t miss what has become a spring tradition and one of the premier culinary events in Washington, D.C.: ZooFari! Taking place at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo on May 20 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., and hosted by the Friends of the National Zoo, ZooFari 2010 – “A Panda Bear Affair” – will bring...

A scimitar-horned oryx has joined the ranks of endangered animals born this year at the National Zoo’s conservation center in Front Royal, Va., where scientists also recently confirmed the gender of the Zoo’s nearly 3-month-old clouded leopards.

For the first time in more than 20 years, tiny lion paws are making a mark at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Early this morning 6-year-old lion Nababiep gave birth to one cub, adding another member to the lion pride the Zoo has carefully worked to build over the past year. “This is a historic...

History was made March 30 in the Bird House at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo when its first female brown kiwi chick ( Apteryx mantelli) emerged from her shell. To mark this historic hatching, keepers bestowed the honor of naming the chick on one of her countrymen: New Zealand Ambassador to the...