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Zoology

Amabala, a 5-year-old female who was born in captivity, is raising four healthy cubs.

Watch Four Furry and Adorable Cheetah Cubs on the Smithsonian National Zoo’s Online Feed

The “strong, active” and “vocal” babies were born during the government shutdown, and they and their 5-year-old, first-time mother, Amabala, are thriving

The giant structure—made up of thousands of individual funnel-shaped webs—spans over 1,000 square feet.

This Massive Web—Home to More Than 100,000 Spiders—Found in a Cave in Europe Could Be the World’s Largest

The cavern along the border of Greece and Albania is home to a terrifyingly high number of two species of arachnids that live together peacefully in complete darkness

Bat? Meet rat. Scientists recorded brown rats snatching bats from the air and eating them.

Rats Are Snatching Bats Out of the Air and Eating Them—and Researchers Got It on Video

Rodents in northern Germany were spotted using two different hunting strategies at major urban bat hibernation sites

Green sea turtles are rebounding, thanks to global conservation efforts.

After Decades of Decline, Some Good News Is Here for Green Sea Turtles

The International Union for Conservation of Nature no longer considers the marine creatures endangered and has instead reclassified them as a species of least concern

A male and female olive baboon

Research Sheds Light on Why Women Live Longer Than Men—and Why This Pattern Will Likely Continue

Scientists studied hundreds of mammal and bird species to shed light on sex-based lifespan differences

These six keel-billed toucans were discovered bound and sedated in June by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. The Wildlife Confiscations Network helped find experts at qualified facilities to care for the birds.

Once Smuggled Animals Are Rescued, Law Enforcement Officers Call Her

As coordinator of the Wildlife Confiscations Network, Mandy Fischer helps match trafficked animals—from alligators to jaguars to baby monkeys—with sanctuaries and care facilities

Bull elk are fighting and bugling during their annual mating season in Rocky Mountain National Park and neighboring Estes Park in Colorado.

Amorous Elk Are Looking for Love Across North America in an Annual Spectacle Called the Rut

Fall is mating season for the large, antler-adorned ungulates—and you can catch a glimpse of them at several national parks in the United States and Canada

The researchers studied the genomes of thousands of ant specimens stored in museum collections.

Fiji’s Ants Are Struggling. Scientists Say They’re Part of the Broader ‘Insect Apocalypse’

New research finds that 79 percent of Fiji’s endemic ant species—those that are native to and only found on the archipelago—are in decline

Joro spiders are essentially harmless to humans and pets, but scientists are concerned about their impact on native species.

Scientists Want Your Help to Track the Spread of Invasive Joro Spiders at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The invasive arachnids were first spotted in the park last year, and now, researchers hope to keep tabs on when and where they occur

Scott Adams, director of the Exotic Zoo, holds a casque-headed iguana. Eight hatchlings were produced at the zoo this summer without a father.

‘Once in a Lifetime’: Rare ‘Virgin Birth’ of Eight Iguana Babies Surprises Zookeepers in England

A female casque-headed iguana produced live hatchlings even though she has never shared an enclosure with a male

An artist's interpretation of what early penguins in New Zealand might have looked like

Early Penguins Had Long, Dagger-Like Beaks for Skewering Fish, New Zealand Fossils Reveal

Paleontologists describe four new species of extinct ancestral penguins that help shed light on how the iconic birds evolved after dinosaurs went extinct

Yagi (left) and Quinn (right) are searching for evidence of critically endangered Sumatran rhinos in Indonesia's Way Kambas National Park.

Two Sniffer Dogs Might Have Just Found a Lost Population of Critically Endangered Rhinos

Yagi and Quinn identified scat that was likely left by a Sumatran rhinoceros in Indonesia’s Way Kambas National Park, where scientists thought the animals had disappeared

A handler holds her Chihuahua dogs in the grooming area at the 149th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on February 10, 2025, in New York City. 

How One Chihuahua Proved to Be a Link to the Ancient Dogs That Moved to Latin America With the Spread of Agriculture

New research shows that ancient dogs did not join Indigenous people in Central and South America until farming became popular—especially of maize

Ziggy (dog) and Rozi (cheetah) play with a stuffed animal at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo Dubbo in Australia.

A Lonely Cheetah Cub at an Australian Zoo Now Has an Unlikely ‘Best Friend’—a Puppy

While the companionship might seem surprising, zoos have been pairing sibling-less cheetah cubs with dogs for decades to improve their socialization

Bogong moths are brown, nondescript creatures—but scientists now suggest they are the first known invertebrates to use the stars for navigation.

Australian Moths Are the First Known Insects to Navigate by the Stars, Revealing a Migratory Superpower

Bogong moths use both Earth’s magnetic field and the starry night sky to make twice-yearly migrations spanning hundreds of miles, according to new research

Carl Hagenbeck opened his Tierpark Hagenbeck in Hamburg, Germany, in 1907. Decades earlier, the impresario had exhibited Indigenous humans in conditions that replicated their home environments.

The Man Who Invented the Modern Zoo Tested Out His Ideas on People First

Carl Hagenbeck believed that animals should be housed in habitats that mimicked their natural environment. Earlier, he’d followed the same guiding philosophy when exhibiting Indigenous people in “human zoos”

The mosquitoes are dropped from drones inside small, cylindrical, biodegradable containers.

Scientists Are Using Drones to Unleash Thousands of Mosquitoes in Hawaii in a Bid to Save Native Birds. Here’s How It Works

The lab-raised, non-biting male mosquitoes are meant to breed with the invasive ones on the islands and produce sterile eggs that will help suppress avian malaria

Wild pigs are becoming increasingly problematic in California's Bay Area.

Wild Pigs Are Causing Big Problems in California’s Bay Area, and Their Population Seems to Be Growing

Land managers and other authorities are ramping up efforts to trap and kill the destructive, non-native animals

In December 2024, a trail camera installed on private property in Oklahoma's Cimarron County photographed an adult mountain lion with three kittens.

Rare Mountain Lion Kittens Spotted on Trail Cameras Suggest the Big Cats May Be Re-establishing a Population in Oklahoma

Two separate adult mountain lions were recorded with cubs in different parts of the state last year, offering the first evidence confirmed by state biologists that the cats could be breeding there

The squid species had only been known from dead specimens found in fishing nets or the stomachs of other animals.

Scientists Had Never Seen This Mysterious Squid Alive in the Wild—Until Now. See the First Footage of the Elusive Creature

A three-foot-long Antarctic gonate squid was spotted swimming 7,000 feet below the surface of the Southern Ocean

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