News

The popular Pizza Playground at the Smithsonian's National Zoo has a new recipe thanks to a $110,000 donation from Ledo Pizza and donations from Friends of the National Zoo. The new playground, which has been closed for the past several weeks for renovation, will reopen to the public June 29 at noon...

The onset of summer for animal care staff at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va., means patiently awaiting endangered-animal births, hand-raising youngsters and saying farewell to cubs that are ready to be matched with mates. This year, SCBI-Front Royal celebrated its...

The daring and adventurous sloth bear cub, Hank, made his public debut at the Smithsonian's National Zoo today. He is the first sloth bear born at the Zoo in seven years. Born Dec. 19, 2012, Hank and his mother, Hana, have spent the past six months in a den near the Asia Trail exhibit. Now that he...

The daring and adventurous sloth bear cub, Hank, made his public debut at the Smithsonian's National Zoo today. He is the first sloth bear born at the Zoo in seven years. Born December 19, 2012, Hank and his mother Hana have spent the past six months in a den near the Asia Trail exhibit. Now that he...

The hottest tickets in town are to see cold-blooded animals at the Smithsonian's National Zoo. Tickets are on sale for exclusive tours of the Zoo's Reptile Discovery Center. The tours include a guided stroll through the Reptile Discovery Center with a Zoo Salamander Ambassador filled with fun facts...

WHAT: Sloth bear cub, Hank, will make his media and public debut in his yard with mother Hana. WHEN: Thursday, June 20, 9:30 a.m.—10:30 a.m. WHO: Mindy Babitz, Asia Trail keeper, Smithsonian's National ZooStacey Tabellario, Asia Trail keeper, Smithsonian's National Zoo WHERE: Sloth Bear exhibit (top...

This week we have started letting our keeper aides meet the fishing cat kitten—as you can see, Electra's pretty relaxed about the whole process, but is definitely keeping an eye on things. In this photo, Electra actually brought the kitten up to the mesh and deposited it there for social time! The...

Tickets are now on sale for the annual Brew at the Zoo event, held on Thursday, July 11, 2013 from 6 to 9 p.m. Hosted by Friends of the National Zoo, the beer tasting fundraiser showcases craft and microbrewers from around the nation, all in support of wildlife conservation. Being able to taste over...

Our fishing cat kitten, born May 17, is growing fast! The kitten and its mother Electra are bonding in an off-exhibit area. Keepers have been monitoring the pair closely. A few days ago, Electra was comfortable with the keepers separating her and her kitten for a few moments while they weighed—750...

This spring has been quiet at the Great Cats unit, now that the lions have left, though Damai and Kavi continue to get along well. Since all of the lions born to Naba and Shera in 2010 have moved on to other homes, things are relatively quiet. This gives us the opportunity to catch up on some much...

gray seal splashdown video

If you stop by the red panda habitat on Asia Trail, you may notice something new: TWO red pandas! Shama has been joined by a new male red panda, Rusty. Her previous mate Tate left last fall to be paired for breeding with a red panda at the Erie Zoo. Rusty comes to us from the Lincoln Children's Zoo...

This week's giant panda update, written by keeper Marty Dearie, details how he and other keepers work with Mei Xiang and Tian Tian on training behaviors behind-the-scenes at the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat. How do you draw a blood sample from a giant panda? If the panda is Mei...

On Friday, June 21—Bozie's last day of quarantine—she got access to almost the entire barn. We intentionally left poop from each of the other elephants in the stalls, to see how she would react. Once everything was open, she was excited and ready to go, but instead of moving forward, she just danced...

Animal care staff at the National Zoo welcomed a new resident to Elephant Trails May 22--Bozie, a 37-year-old female Asian elephant. She arrived safely at approximately 3:30 p.m. and is now in quarantine for approximately 30 days. Along with Elephant Manager Marie Galloway, Zoo Veterinarian Nancy...

By Pierre Comizzoli, SCBI Scientist Some of the most amazing and rarest wildlife on the planet lives in the arid Sahelo-Sahara region of Africa. An enormous band of land, crossing Africa from east to west, this area incorporates the great Sahara Desert and the Sahel grasslands that border it. The...

Maintaining the genetic diversity of giant pandas living in human care is a science?an exact science. SCBI scientist Jonathan Ballou determines how well-represented an individual panda's genes are in the captive population and makes breeding recommendations. In this panda update he explains how he...

At the Smithsonian's National Zoo, the seals of American Trail are ready to splash down and make their big debut! To help the marine mammals acclimate to their new surroundings, animal care staff added 24,000 pounds of salt to the 125,000 gallon pool last week. Yesterday, three gray seals—Gunther...

Just before midnight on May 17, the mewling of a newborn kitten delighted keepers at the National Zoo's Asia Trail. The kitten's mother, Electra, had two kittens last year on May 18 (see below for more information on last year's births). The adjacent photo depicts the first time that the mother...

The Andean Bear exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Zoo will be double the fun when twin cubs make their debut Saturday, May 11. The male and female cubs, named Curt and Nicole, were born at the Zoo Dec. 14, 2012, and are significant births for the population of Andean bears in human care. They...

In a poll conducted on the Zoo's Facebook page, 830 fans elected to name the cub Hank, a moniker that combines the cubs' parents' names, Hana and Francois. "Hank" proved to be more popular than "Ravi" or "Bandar," which received 615 and 219 votes, respectively. It's important for Hank to know his...

The National Zoo will soon welcome Bozie, a 37-year-old female Asian elephant, into the Zoo's existing herd. She will be on loan from the Baton Rouge Zoo. Bozie's last companion at the Baton Rouge Zoo died in March. Elephants are social species and to meet Association of Zoos and Aquariums standards...

WHAT:Twin Andean bear cubs, Curt and Nicole, will make their media debut in their yard with their mother Billie Jean; their public debut is Saturday, May 11 WHEN:Tuesday, May 7 10 a.m.—11:30 a.m. WHO: Craig Saffoe, curator of Andean bears, Smithsonian's National Zoo Karen Abbott, Andean bear keeper...

Animal care staff at the National Zoo welcomed a new resident to Elephant Trails May 22—Bozie, a 37-year-old female Asian elephant. She arrived safely and is now in quarantine for approximately 30 days. Elephant Manager Marie Galloway, Zoo Veterinarian Nancy Boedeker, and a keeper from the Baton...

The Smithsonian's National Zoo is inviting its Facebook fans to name one of Asia Trails' most adventurous and charismatic critters: a sloth bear cub. Starting Wednesday, May 1, the Zoo is hosting a poll on its Facebook page; fans can vote for their favorite among three names that keepers selected to...