National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

The coast on the island of Curaçao

Connecting Ocean Conservation from Sea to Sky

From deep trenches to shallow shores, water circulates in one world ocean

A 17-year Brood X cicada.

Will 17-year Cicadas Be a Buffet or Big Disturbance for Birds?

Brood X is here. Will birds get a bug buffet or struggle to sing over the chorus of cicadas?

Common yellowthroats, like the one pictured here, spend their winters in coffee growing regions in Latin America.

Birders Want You to Rethink Your Morning Roast

Your coffee is stronger than you think

The first cheetah cub born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute celebrated his 10th birthday last year, marking a decade of the facility's successful cheetah breeding program.

5 Milestones from a Decade of Cheetah Breeding and Conservation

Take a look back at some of the milestones the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s cheetah team has celebrated since the breeding and conservation program began.

A bison on the Northern Great Plains.

I Spent the Summer Studying a Herd of Bison, And Here’s What I Learned

From May to August, I spent most days observing a herd of about 300 bison in Montana.

The Peruvian tern's desert camouflage makes it almost impossible to track, but that’s exactly what our research team set out to do. It would take us four months to survey more than 1,851 acres for the bird, battling sandstorms, stifling heat and impossible landscapes inside Paracas National Reserve — terrain that the tern has mastered.

Searching for the Invisible, Invincible Peruvian Tern

The Peruvian tern's desert camouflage makes it almost impossible to track, but that’s exactly what our research team set out to do. It would take us four months to survey more than 1,851 acres for the bird, battling sandstorms, stifling heat and impossible landscapes inside Paracas National Reserve — terrain that the tern has mastered.

Spindly legs and thick, red fur have earned them the nickname “foxes on stilts,” but maned wolves are neither fox nor wolf.

What the Rhythm of a Maned Wolf's Heart Reveals

Spindly legs and thick, red fur have earned them the nickname “foxes on stilts,” but maned wolves are neither fox nor wolf. Today, researchers are monitoring maned wolves' heart rates to learn more about these unique, charismatic canids.

A black-tailed prairie dog stands near its burrow.

Ecologists Dig Prairie Dogs, And You Should Too

Are prairie dogs pests or ecosystem engineers? It all depends on your point of view

researcher Tremie Gregory climbs high up a tree in Peruvian Amazon rainforest to set up a camera trap

How Scientists Are Uncovering the Secrets of Life in the Rainforest Canopy

Camera trap photos show arboreal animals living hundreds of feet above the ground

Two pandas at China’s Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (also called Chengdu Panda Base or CPB).

Learning More About Panda Health One Drop of Blood at a Time

You may not like needles or giving blood when you go to the doctor’s office, but did you know that blood is an important diagnostic tool for veterinarians? When an animal is feeling sick, one of the very first steps a veterinarian takes is to obtain a blood sample for analysis.

Jenna Pastel, research assistant for the Smithsonian's National Zoo's nutrition laboratory, stands inside a freezer stocked with samples of exotic animal milks. The freezer holds the largest animal milk repository in the world.

Making Sense of Animal Milks

You might be surprised to see someone walking around the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in a full-body snowsuit, but nutrition laboratory research assistant Jenna Pastel wears a snowsuit year-round. She spends her days in a -20 degree freezer that is home to the world's largest animal milk repository.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute welcomed many new animals in 2019, including this endangered red panda cub. (Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute).

2019's Conservation Stories Worth Celebrating

Saving species is what we strive to do every day at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. As the year winds down, we’re reflecting on some of our biggest conservation success stories of 2019.

A Savannah sparrow stands on a patch of melting snow in a warm-season grass field in Virginia. (Amy Johnson, Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute)

Not All Birds Fly South for the Winter

Researchers in Virginia wanted to learn how common field management practices — like mowing, burning or animal grazing — affect birds that stay for the winter. They turned to local farmers and landowners for help.

Long-billed curlews are the largest shorebirds in North America, but they are only found along coasts during the winter. They spend their summers breeding in the grasslands of Montana.

Hiding in Plain Sight: Tracking the Long-billed Curlew

Long-billed curlew are shorebirds that spend their summers breeding in the grasslands of Montana. Smithsonian ecologists are equipping them with GPS trackers to learn more about their movements.

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientist Mike Henley dives at a coral nursery where brown rice coral and blue rice coral grow.

Testing the Waters: Coral Nurseries and Climate Change

What makes (or breaks) a coral’s ability to survive rising sea temperatures? It’s a puzzling predicament, and scientists are hoping coral nurseries can help crack the code. To test the waters, they grow brown rice coral and blue rice coral in various temperatures and conditions, then reintroduce fragments into the ocean. Suspended from a “tree” above the sea floor, these corals are teaching Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientist Mike Henley whether corals grown in warmer waters fare better than their cold-water counterparts.

As far as predators go, coyotes are one of the most resourceful and resilient.

Connecting with Coyotes on the Prowl

In Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, eastern coyotes join the ranks of top predators, along with black bears and foxes. Still, these clever canines face threats in their native habitat. Their daily migrations take them over roads and private lands, where the likelihood of human-animal conflict is high. Using GPS collars, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientists, led by biologist Joe Guthrie, are about to embark on a study to piece together the movements of coyotes on the prowl.

Scimitar Horned Oryx

Goats and Gazelles and Oryx, Oh My! How Wildlife Veterinarians Treat (Almost) All Species

Goats and Gazelles and Oryx, Oh My! How Wildlife Veterinarians Treat (Almost) All Species

As two orangutan infants tussled in the trees, curator of primates Meredith Bastian and primate keeper Alex Reddy looked on in awe. Over the summer, they traveled to Central Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo to follow these great apes in their native habitat.

Primate Diary: Observing Orangutans in the Wild

Curator of primates Meredith Bastian and primate keeper Alex Reddy traveled to Central Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo to follow great apes in their native habitat. They tell of their research trip in the interview below.

A bison crosses a coulee (a landform shaped by water drainage) during a freezing spring morning.

Studying Animals in Extreme Landscapes

We know that animals select where to live based on their needs — such as food, shelter or safe passage — and their preferences change throughout the year. I want to understand why large mammals choose some areas over others, and how human interaction affects their activity and distribution.

A tapir (Tapirus terrestris) caught on camera in Peru's Amazonian rainforest.

Eyes and Ears on the Amazon Rainforest

Camera traps and acoustic recorders allow researchers to covertly monitor wildlife

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