Fire-bellied toads, also called bombina, are warty, aquatic toads with bright orange or red undersides. These gregarious frogs are native to China and Russia.
Males, unlike females, also have nuptial pads on the first and second fingers.
In March and April, keepers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, celebrated the arrival of two male kiwi chicks! Get to know them in this update from the bird team.
Both chicks have yet to receive their official names, so here they’re referred to
Spending your days with a herd of bison is an idyllic way to pass a summer. I would know, because most of my days from May to August were spent observing the behaviors of a herd of about 300 bison in Montana.
For the last six months, I have worked with SCBI and the Reserve to study bison behavior
After a potentially deadly injury, one endangered wild horse got a new lease on life thanks to the Smithsonian’s veterinary team.
than their domestic cousins, a factor ungulate curator Dolores Reed believes may have
Smithsonian scientists, in collaboration with the Fort Belknap Fish and Wildlife Department, are embarking on a five-year swift fox reintroduction project to restore swift foxes to tribal lands and to help reestablish connectivity between disjointed swift fox populations.
the Fort Belknap Fish and Wildlife Department in Montana, Smithsonian scientists have
Recently, our Great Cats team bid farewell to African lion Amahle, who moved to another zoo to breed. Keeper Katy Juliano shares how Amahle’s mother, Shera, is adjusting in this update.
visitors to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute may have
With their big ears, wide eyes and furry paws, sand cats may look adorable… but they’re quite tough! Sand cats are the only members of the cat family that live exclusively in desert environments. Get to know these hardy felines in this Q&A.
Many desert species—including sand cats—have a variety of physical and behavioral
Put your senses to the test at the Claws and Paws Pathway! Follow your nose to the binturongs, who smell like buttered popcorn, and keep your eyes peeled for petite Pallas’s cats hiding in plain sight. Get the scoop on the Zoo’s newest residents from curator Craig Saffoe.
The pair have been together for years, but they have never reproduced.
There are two new (adorable) kids on the block at American Trail! The team welcomed California sea lion pup Charger and North American beaver Poplar to their new homes at Smithsonian’s National Zoo this past summer.
Sea lions are very social animals and tend to not have a defined hierarchy.
This small, fairly common songbird travels between cool, boggy northern forests and warm southern regions each year. Unlike many of their warbler cousins, they are often seen foraging on the ground, not in trees, while bobbing their tail.
Eastern adults in their breeding plumage have yellow undersides with brownish gray
