Animals

The smallest cub, which weighed just 86 grams at birth, is seen here being hand-reared with bottle formula feedings.

Panda Update: Giant Panda Mom Mei Xiang Won't Exchange Care of Cubs

Smaller cub is receiving infant formula and fluids from Zoo veterinarians

Screen grab from Panda Cam

BREAKING: A Panda Cub is Born at the National Zoo (Video)

The 17-year-old female giant panda Mei Xiang gives birth

Five pups from the Shasta Pack

Biologists Have Spotted the First Wolf Pack in California in 100 Years

Two adults and five pups make up the newly-named Shasta Pack

Ask Smithsonian: Why Do Flamingos Stand on One Leg?

Flamingos may be doing their one-legged tree pose to stay warm or just because it's comfortable

Veterinarians detected what they believe is a developing giant panda fetus in an ultrasound procedure on giant panda Mei Xiang. Based on the size of the fetus, which is about four centimeters, officials say that Mei Xiang could give birth early next week, or possibly in early September.

Panda Cub (Or Is It Bamboo?) Detected in Mei Xiang's Ultrasound

Breeding pandas is complicated and frustrating. The Zoo's female Giant Panda has delivered two healthy cubs in the past ten years

"Flatties" might be more aptly nicknamed "fliers" for their ability to glide to safety should they lose their grip in tree canopies.

Gliding Spiders Found Falling From Tropical Trees

Flat-bodied spiders that live in the rainforest strike a Superman pose to take control of their free-falls

Female saiga at the Black Earth Nature Reserve in Russia in 2009

What Killed Over 134,000 Endangered Antelopes?

Experts are closer to an answer

The larger Pacific striped octopus uses unique prankster shoulder-tapping techniques to lure shrimp prey within arms' reach.

Tropical Octopus Definitely Mates Beak-to-Beak

Larger Pacific striped octopus couples engage in a host of behaviors unheard of among other octopuses

Monique Hammerslag of the Dutch police force in Rotterdam with two of her recruits

Inside a Dutch Police Academy...for Rats

Cigarette-sniffing rats are creating new job opportunities for their fellow rodents

What do this cat's pupils say about what it had for dinner?

How Do Animals Find Food? The Answer's in Their Eyes

Pupil shape provides differing advantages to those who crave the hunt and those who hide

When a Trip to the Zoo Resulted in an Engineering Breakthrough

Megan Leftwich, an engineering professor at George Washington University, is building a robotic flipper based on her observations of sea lions

A wasp larva perches on its hapless spider host.

Parasitic Wasps Turn Spiders Into Zombie Weavers

Arachnids injected with a potent neurotoxin are forced to create shiny new web cradles for wasp larvae

Nabiré had a chronic problem with uterine cysts, and the one that killed her was inoperable.

Only Four Northern White Rhinos Are Left on Earth

One of the species' last females died this week

Hamsters seem to have a more optimistic outlook when they have access to creature comforts.

Hamsters Are Optimists When They Live in Comfy Cages

Pet hamsters that enjoy habitats full of toys and fluffy bedding make more upbeat decisions than those in stark enclosures

Elephants are complex communicators.

How Elephants and Songbirds Are Helping Humans Communicate

In this Generation Anthropocene podcast, social animals show scientists how to trace our evolution and improve interactions

Two black rhinos, a mother and her calf, explore a watering hole at Etosha National Park in Namibia.

Researchers are Fitting Rhinos With Hidden Horn Cameras

One non-profit wants to outfit the animals with cameras and heart rate monitors to save them

Boa constrictors seem to deliver death not through suffocation, but by cutting off blood flow to the heart and brain.

Boa Constrictors Kill By Stopping Blood Circulation

The popular belief that boas and other constricting snakes deal death by suffocation seems to be a flawed assumption

Scientists Connect Monkey Brains and Boost Their Thinking Power

Researchers at Duke University have enhanced the mind power of monkeys and rats by linking their brains together

These Worms Hitchhike in the Belly of Slugs To Get Around

New study shows that worm their way into slug guts and feces to travel long distances

An Anopholes mosquito, the vector for malaria, taking a blood meal from a tasty human.

Mosquitoes Can Carry, and Deliver, a Double Dose of Malaria

Insects that are already carrying one strain are more likely to pick up a second infection and harbor higher numbers of parasites

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