National Zoological Park
Smithsonian Events Week of March 16-20: March Madness!
Monday, March 16: Octopus FeedingI'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden—wouldn't you? But the question is: what do octopi eat that would merit them having a garden in the first place? Come out to the National Zoo where you can observe an octopus feeding! Free, but space is limited. Repe...
March 16, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Weekend Events: Zydeco, Birds and Horticulture
Saturday, March 14: Bird House InterpretersWell, everybody knows that the bird is the word—but what's the word on the birds? Come to the National Zoo and chat with the on-staff bird interpreters who will answer your questions and introduce you to the fascinating world of high-flying critters by way...
March 14, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
BREAKING: Baby Anteater Born at the Zoo
A bouncing baby, giant anteater was born yesterday, March 12, at the National Zoo; only the second giant anteater birth in the Zoo's history. Mother Maripi (ma-RIP-ee) stepped right up and is instinctively caring for her baby. Zoo staff say she's very patient as the baby nurses and negotiates techi...
March 13, 2009 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
And the Winner of Our Second Caption Writing Contest is...
Okay, so we're a little late in announcing the winner of our caption writing contest. (Sorry! Even we get a little sidetracked from time to time.) To refresh our heads, here is the photo: The subject of our second caption writing contest And here is the winning caption: "After the success of the H...
March 11, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
How Zoo Nutritionist Mike Maslanka Feeds the Animals
On a chilly February morning, I set off with Mike Maslanka as he wove a truck carrying 250 stalks of bamboo through the Asia Trail at the National Zoo. The Senior Animal Nutritionist was demonstrating one of the more hands-on aspects of the job, which includes planning diets, preparing meals and fi...
March 10, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
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. Like a shrew, it eats insects. And like an elephant, its got a long trunk-like snout. But the creatures are neither elephant nor shrew, and belong to th...
March 02, 2009 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Smithsonian Events Week of 3/2-3/6/09: Kiwis, Kites and Bendy Straws
Monday, March 2: Meet a KiwiThe National Zoo is offering an opportunity to meet a kiwi—the famous, endangered icon of New Zealand that bears a striking resemblance to a certain fruit of the same name. Learn about the birds and the conservation efforts being made on their behalf. (See the birth of K...
March 02, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
A Red Panda's Fancy Turns to Love
We just love the Zoo's mating stories. There's something so deliciously edgy about pondering the sex life of animals. We wonder when...and will they succeed in their efforts? Will the Zoo keepers have to help them do it? And as all of Washington remains hopeful that the grand dame of giant pandas,...
February 10, 2009 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Zoo's Baby Gorilla is a Girl
IT’S A GIRL! – The Smithsonian’s National Zoo has just announced that its three-week-old baby gorilla is a female. The baby was born on January 10 to 26-year-old mom Mandara and 16-year-old dad Baraka. Mandara is again proving herself to be an exemplary mother, and is caring for her baby with great...
February 05, 2009 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Pandas Play in the Snow
Snow day in Washington DC and most schools are closed. Time for snow forts, sledding and pandas making angels in snow?(All photos by Mehgan Murphy, National Zoo)
January 27, 2009 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Mei Xiang may be expecting!
On Tuesday, January 15, National Zoo scientists observed two twitterpated pandas. That's right, darlings Mei Xiang and Tian Tian have been snuggling up together. Or at least trying to. Because, in the National Zoo's words, "competent mating did not occur."On January 17, Mei was once again anestheti...
January 23, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Whistling Orangutan at the National Zoo
Meet Bonnie, the Smithsonian National Zoo’s very own whistling orangutan. She got some attention recently when a paper published in Primates described her as the first ever case of a primate imitating a sound—a whistle—from another species—human—without being trained to do so."It seems like she hea...
January 23, 2009 |
By Megan Gambino
National Zoo Welcomes Baby Gorilla
Smithsonian's National Zoo said hello to its latest bundle of joy Saturday - when 26-year-old western lowland gorilla Mandara gave birth to a baby at approximately 1:45 p.m. The zoo reports that both mother and baby appear to be doing well. The baby's sex is yet to be determined."We began monitorin...
January 12, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
National Zoo Part of Amphibian Ark
You've heard of silent spring, get ready for silent swamp.After losing 122 amphibian species since 1980, the handiwork of a killer fungus, habitat destruction and pollution, frog researchers are mounting an international conservation campaign to save endangered amphibians by capturing them."Captivi...
January 09, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Smithsonian Events Week of 12/15-21
Monday, December 15: Voila Julia!I don’t think anyone can ever really top Dan Aykroyd’s Julia Child impersonation. This is not to say that actress Nancy Robinette won’t come pretty darn close with her portrayal of the gourmand with the golden palette and a wonderfully infectious joie de vivre. This...
December 15, 2008 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Catch the Animals at Night at ZooLights!
‘Tis the season for ZooLights at the Smithsonian National Zoo! More than 50 light sculptures—everything from Asian elephants to an octopus, golden lion tamarins to the more obscure kori bustards—line the path from the Panda Plaza, on the zoo’s north end, to the Kids’ Farm, in the southeast corner (...
December 12, 2008 |
By Megan Gambino
Zoo's Orangs Getting Ready for Tonight's Redskins Game Against the Steelers
The Zoo's orangutans are going ape in anticipation of tonight's Redskins game. Kyle (top and bottom) and Lucy (below) got a goodie bag filled with cut backed potato fries at a special primates-only tailgate party. In a pre-game rally, their enclosure was strung with banners, but the apes tore them ...
November 03, 2008 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Doe (a Deer, a Female Deer) Born at the Zoo
We keep a supply of cigars at the ready here the Around the Mall Blog, knowing just about any day another bundle of joy might arrive at the National Zoo. And just when we thought we were headed into the long, cold months when births tend to fall off, along comes this female. She's an Eld's deer, an...
October 24, 2008 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Sleep Over Party at the Zoo
I like to camp. But I’m living in DC, without a car to get me out to the Shenandoah on the weekends. And I’ve always wanted to go on a safari. But my pocket isn’t so deep. So I figured I’d try the next best thing—urban camping in the mock wild, at the Smithsonian National Zoo. Does that sound a bit...
September 11, 2008 |
By Megan Gambino
Scientists Find Another Species of Forest Robin
The most exciting thing about discovering a new species, I always thought, was choosing the name.In fourth grade I sketched out possible names for new species, on the off-chance that I’d recognize a new breed of worm on my walk home and, unprepared, name it something lame. Anikus Guptus, a rare spe...
September 03, 2008 |
By Anika Gupta
