News Archive

For the first time in this pride, Zoo veterinarians have successfully drawn blood from a lion—a juvenile male named Jumbe—while he was awake. Keeper Rebecca Stites reveals what this means for the health and future of the lion pride in the latest Q&A. How do you draw blood from an African lion? With...

A mystery: African lions are breeding, but they’re not producing cubs. Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute science sleuths are on the case! Their goal: to determine the cause of the cub “bust” by studying the hormones in female lion feces. Their findings were published a PLOS-ONE paper...

What does it take to keep up with a sextuplet of juvenile African lions? In the latest Keeper Q & A, Rebecca Stites and Kristen Clark dish on the cats' quirky personalities, training triumphs, and big changes to come. As the cubs grow, how do they behave toward their parents and each other? The...

January 24 and March 2 mark our African lion cubs first birthdays! Animal keepers Kristen Clark and Rebecca Stites reveal what's new with the cubs in the latest Q&A! How have the cubs' personalities developed? Rebecca: The personality of each begins to show itself at just a few weeks old, and these...