Animals

Richard Conniff has been writing for Smithsonian magazine since 1982. His latest work is titled, "Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: My Life Doing Dumb Stuff with Animals."

Richard Conniff’s Wildlife Writing

International journalist Richard Conniff has reported on animals that fly, swim, crawl and leap in his 40 years of writing

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Are Appalachian Salamanders Carrying a Deadly Fungus?

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Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Dinosaur gangs, psychedelic fish and long-distance elephant calls

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Major Loss of Wildlife in Kenya’s Masai Mara

Smithsonian magazine staff writer Abigail Tucker recently ventured to Greenland to report on narwhal research.

Abigail Tucker on “In Search of the Mysterious Narwhal”

The Zoo’s three pandas, here Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, require a constant supply of bamboo, a plant that is not very nutritious, especially for animals, like pandas, that are natural carnivores.

Feeding the Animals at the National Zoo

After hiring the first animal nutritionist 30 years ago, the National Zoo prepares specific, well-balanced meals for each animal

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Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Wolves, hibernating animals, spitting cobras and more

Climbers Brian French and Will Koomjian ascend the Brummit fir in Coos County Oregon. It is the National Champion Douglas fir and stands 335 feet tall.

Climbing the Tallest Trees

A select group of adventurers climb the world’s tallest trees to learn more about the wildlife that lives on the highest branches

For the first time in 16 years, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Conservation and Research Center celebrated the birth of clouded leopard cubs.

National Zoo Celebrates Birth of Rare Clouded Leopards

Notoriously difficult to breed, two new clouded leopards are born at the National Zoo’s research facility

A gray wolf in Yellowstone National Park.

Wolves to Lose Protection in Idaho and Montana

Since the first wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park in 1995, the population has grown to 1,500 or more

Komodo dragon

Komodo Dragons: Cute, Deadly or Both?

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An Elephant Shrew, Born at the Zoo, is Caught on Film

The elephant-shrew looks like a mouse designed by a committee. It's got a trunk like a pachyderm, the tail of a kangaroo and an anteater's tongue

In a span of ten years, more than 1,000 species were discovered in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region.

Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Mosquitoes, New Zealand flightless birds, pink lizards and more

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Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Honeyeater birds, sea slugs, tree frogs, and more

After coming within 50 feet of several wolves, Frank Clifford understands why 100,000 people say they come to Yellowstone just to see wolves.

Frank Clifford on "Howling Success"

As First Dog, Laddie Boy was worthy of an official portrait.

The White House’s First Celebrity Dog

Bo, the Obama’s First Pooch, has a legacy to live up to in Laddie Boy, the family pet of President Harding

Foxes ate so many Aleutian cackling geese that by 1940, the birds were thought to be extinct.

Wild Goose Chase

How one man's obsession saved an "extinct" species

A study shows that cabbage white butterflies with their hindwings removed could fly as far and as high as before.

Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Butterflies, clicking antelopes, creatures of the deep and more

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A Year of Wild Things -- Orcas, Alligators, Caterpillars, Lizards, and More!

The Wild Things column in the magazine is, by far, the most fun part to work on

Mark Catesby's Blue Jay.

Mark Catesby's New World

The artist sketched American wildlife for Europe's high society, educating them on the creatures living among the unexplored lands

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