Persian onager News

Several inches of snowfall kept the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute closed to visitors, but the animals and their caretakers still had a good time!

Have you herd . . . our Persian onager filly and scimitar-horned oryx calves are exploring their surroundings! Get the latest update on their adventures from Tara Buk, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute animal keeper.

Ungulate keepers recently welcomed a female Persian onager foal to the herd! Get the update from Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute ungulate keeper Tara Buk.

From salamanders to siamangs, prairie dogs to pandas, and everything in between, all Zoo animals receive veterinary care. Often, that means an animal needs to take medicine. Find out how keepers and veterinarians administer medicine in this update.

It has been a fairly mild winter at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia. But we did have one bigger snow day Jan. 7. It snowed almost 6 inches at some of our barns.

The end of the summer has been very busy at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, which welcomed two new members to its Persian onager herd.

Persian onagers are not just rare in the wild, they are actually rare in zoos as well.

Green Hill Barn, where our herd of Persian onager mares lives, has been full of excitement during the past few weeks since the arrival of our first foal of the year.

Even though Persian onagers are a herd species and prefer to live in groups, they don’t have a “hive” mind, they each have distinct personalities!

Persian onagers are an amazing species! And even though they are not one of the iconic species that you may know, as someone who gets to care for them and spend time with them every day, let me tell you just how amazing they are.

Excitement is in the air at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, where hoofstock keepers are eagerly anticipating the births of three Persian onagers! Get to know this rare and endangered species in this Q&A with supervisory biologist Dolores Reed.

Get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how keepers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute enrich the lives of animals by presenting them with toys, training and novel food items.