Press Release Archive

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.

On March 1, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute and the Nashville Zoo announced the birth of a male clouded leopard from an artificial insemination procedure using frozen/thawed semen. This accomplishment is a first for this species and a giant step for global...

Using new and minute technology, Smithsonian scientists have, for the first time ever, tracked one of North America’s rarest birds―the Kirtland’s warbler―throughout its full annual cycle, revealing new and critical information for the bird’s future.

Giant panda Bao Bao and Zoo staff landed at China’s Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport around 6:59 p.m.

Bao Bao began her journey to China this morning. She departed the Smithsonian’s National Zoo at 10:35 for Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia where she will board a FedEx 777F plane bound for Chengdu, China.

Giant panda Bao Bao will depart the Smithsonian’s National Zoo for China Feb. 21.

The Zoo’s 31-year-old male harbor seal, Squeegee, died shortly after a diagnostic medical exam Feb. 1. American Trail keepers had been monitoring Squeegee closely for several weeks after he presented with blood in his urine.

A geriatric female tufted deer died at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) Feb. 2. The 24-year-old tufted deer named Morticia had been treated for cataracts and mobility issues during the past several years but recently had not responded to medications.

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s female bobcat, Ollie—who escaped—received a medical exam this afternoon. She spent the night in the Zoo’s veterinary hospital under observation.

Ollie, the female bobcat at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, was found on Zoo property this afternoon. Photos and video of her and the recovery team at the Zoo's veterinary hospital are now available on Flickr and YouTube for media use.

The Zoo will be holding a press conference in the Bus Lot at 5 p.m. For more about the species, please read the Bobcat page of the Zoo’s website.