News Archive

Vostok is a new face at the Zoo's Great Cats exhibit. Explore how animal care staff helped him adjust to his new home.

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!

Use your tiger eyes to see what it takes to care for the largest cat in the world and 2022’s Lunar New Year animal: the tiger! Get a peek inside the world of animal keeper and real-life Zoo Guardian Dell Guglielmo, who cares for the Zoo's three tigers.

The lions and tigers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo who tested presumptive positive for COVID-19 the week of Sept. 13 are behaving and eating normally.

The lions and tigers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo continue to be treated for COVID-19. All tigers and lions, including the three lions noted of concern in the Sept. 24 update, are improving and eating.

The lions and tigers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo continue to be treated for COVID-19. All tigers and three lions are eating normally and improving. Three lions are of greater concern.

The new guy in town is calm, curious and cautious. In other words, he’s one cool cat. Meet Metis, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s new 5-year-old Amur tiger!

Lions, tigers, cheetahs and bobcats – let’s play! Keepers Katy Juliano, Adri Kopp and Amber Dedrick know how to get the big cats they work with pouncing, roaring and purring for enrichment.

A new genomic study ranks the potential of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to bind to the ACE2 receptor site in 410 vertebrate animals. Old World primates and great apes, which have identical amino acids at the binding site as humans, are predicted to have a very high propensity for binding ACE2 and...

Just how big are tigers? How far can they jump? And what does tiger poop look like? July 29 is International Tiger Day, so sink your teeth into these fun facts about big cats.

Add a little sunshine to a gray winter day with a trip to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. There’s still plenty to see from December through March. This guide will help you plan for a cold-weather visit.

What’s better than a dad joke? An animal joke! August 16 is National Tell a Joke Day. So get your laugh tracks ready, because we’ve got a few toadally awesome animal jokes that are sure to leave kids quacking up.

A sassy new resident made her debut at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo this week! Animal care staff recently welcomed Amur tiger Nikita to the Great Cats exhibit. Get to know her in this Q&A.

Training tigers to show their teeth and preening prickly porcupines is all in a day’s work for keeper Dell Guglielmo!

There’s a new tiger in town! Meet Pavel, a 10-year-old Amur tiger who lives at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Great Cats habitat. He made his debut this week and is the first of his endangered species to be on exhibit here in 70 years. In this Q&A, get the scoop on Pavel from Great Cats curator...

For the first time since 1948, the Great Cats habitat at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is once again home to an Amur tiger, a 10-year-old male named Pavel.

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo transported its 9-week-old male Sumatran tiger cub to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, where he will live and thrive with another young male tiger cub.

Since Aug. 2, Great Cats keepers at the Smithsonian's National Zoo have been supplemental feeding the 6-week-old male Sumatran tiger cub.

As the world prepares to celebrate Global Tiger Day this Saturday, July 29, Great Cats keepers have some big news to share about the 2-week-old Sumatran tiger cub in their care: it appears to be a boy!

Great Cats keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are celebrating the birth of a Sumatran tiger, a critically endangered species. The cub’s mother, 8-year-old Damai, gave birth at 4:17 p.m. on July 11.

Love is in the air for the Zoo’s Sumatran tigers, Sparky and Damai! Their relationship, says keeper Dell Guglielmo, has been blossoming ever since the pair was introduced last September.

The Smithsonian's National Zoo is home to a new male Sumatran tiger. Sparky is acclimating to his new home and can be seen at the Great Cats Exhibit. The 12-year-old tiger came to the Zoo on a breeding recommendation from the Sumatran Tiger Species Survival Plan. Sparky has never sired a litter of...

Sumatran tiger cubs Bandar and Sukacita are growing up fast and undergoing some big changes at the Great Cats exhibit! At 16 months old, these cubs won't be fully-grown adults for another year or two, but they're already showing maturity and independence. Keepers Marie Magnuson and Dell Guglielmo...

The Great Cats exhibit is celebrating two very special birthdays on August 5: Sumatran tigers Bandar and Sukacita are turning one year old! Keepers Marie Magnuson and Dell Gulglielmo have cared for the cats and their mother, Damai, since they were born. In the latest Keeper Q & A, they reveal...

Sumatran Tiger cubs Bandar and Sukacita turn nine months old on May 5—how time flies! One sign that they are making the transition from cubs to sub-adults is that both have started to lose their "baby" incisor teeth. Their adult fangs will take a few months to grow out. It's all a part of growing up...