Always free of charge, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is one of Washington D.C.’s, and the Smithsonian’s, most popular tourist destinations, with more than 2 million visitors from all over the world each year. The Zoo instills a lifelong commitment to conservation through engaging experiences with animals and the people working to save them.
Learn what else makes these animals unique.
Banded leporinus are torpedo-shaped, striped yellow and black freshwater fish found primarily in the creeks and streams of the Amazon River basin in Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela where they feed on plants, fruits and leaves.
Learn what else makes these animals unique.
Flatail characins, also called kissing prochilodus, have silver bodies and colorful fins. They live in the Amazonia River system.
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The black pacu is a large, nonaggressive, fruit-eating species of fish found in the upper Amazon River basin.
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In a new study almost 20 years in the making, Smithsonian researchers and partners report some of the strongest evidence yet of the phenomenon of speciation reversal in two lineages of common ravens.
and the other called “Holarctic” found everywhere else
This update was written by elephant keeper Kayleigh Sullivan. It has been almost a week since Asian elephant Spike arrived at the Elephant Trails habitat. Since then, he has made himself right at home!
is a familiar face for him when almost everything else
Northern Luzon giant cloud rats are timid, forest-dwelling animals with a coat of long, rough fur. They are endemic to the island of Luzon in the Philippines.
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Barred tiger salamanders are one of the longest terrestrial salamanders in North America. They are mostly nocturnal and live in forests, fields, meadows, grasslands and deserts.
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This Valentine’s Day (or any day!) celebrate with your beloved and 2,700 of your closest animal friends at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
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The highly toxic emperor newt (also called the Mandarin or Yunnan newt) lives only in the mountains along a handful of rivers in western China. These newts face threats from over-harvesting and habitat destruction.
Learn what else makes these animals unique.
