The Zoo’s male giant panda rests in his habitat.
Entrances: Connecticut Avenue, NW (3001 block between Cathedral Avenue and Devonshire Place); Harvard Street and Adams Mill Road intersection; Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park. Open daily see here for hours. Closed December 25. Metrorail: Woodley Park/Zoo/Adams Morgan station or Cleveland Park station. Recorded information and Information Desk: 202-633-4888. nationalzoo.si.edu
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The National Zoo is working to save the Bali mynah from extinction. |
The Zoo’s main pedestrian entrance is located on Connecticut Avenue. |
The National Zoo is known internationally for the exhibiting, breeding, and study of wild animals. Most of the Zoo’s animals live in naturalistic settings that comfortably house social groups resembling those found in the wild.
Vertebrate species, representing the most spectacular and familiar forms of land animals, make up the most visible part of the collection, but invertebrate and aquatic species provide a more comprehensive picture of animal life. Educational graphics and demonstrations including daily programs, animal training and enrichment, feeding, and keeper talks supplement public understanding of the park’s animals and plants.
Native and ornamental plants grow throughout the 163-acre park. The butterfly garden (featuring plants that attract butterflies) provides living examples of the interaction among plants, animals, and humans. Olmsted Walk, the central path, connects the major animal exhibits. It is named for the father of landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted, who created the original design for the National Zoo as well as the US Capitol grounds, the Washington National Cathedral grounds, and New York’s Central Park.
The National Zoo’s giant pandas enjoy their habitat.
The giant pandas occupy the top spot on the Zoo’s “must see” list. The pandas’ state-of-the-art habitat is designed to mimic the pandas’ natural habitat of rocky, lush terrain in China. Each element has a purpose—from helping the pandas stay cool in hot weather to giving them a place to hide when they need privacy. Rock and tree structures are perfect for climbing, and grottoes, pools, and streams for keeping cool.
The pandas are the gateway to the Asia Trail—nearly six acres of exhibits featuring endangered or threatened Asian species. Joining giant pandas along the Trail are clouded leopards, fishing cats, Asian small-clawed otters, Japanese giant salamanders, red pandas, and sloth bears.
Flamingos are a staple at the National Zoo.
The sunbathing seals attract visitors to the Zoo’s American Trail.
Along the American Trail, guests can wander through landscaped paths and discover unparalleled opportunities to come face-to-face with California sea lions and gray seals, watch playful beavers and otters, admire the classic beauty of eagles and wolves, and splash and play in a kid-friendly seasonal tide pool. American Trail showcases species that are gems of North American wildlife and treasures to us all. The animals here represent the triumph of the American spirit and success stories in conservation.
The National Zoo is committed to conserving Asian elephants, an endangered species popular with Zoo visitors.
Asian elephants are critically endangered; fewer than 50,000 remain in their native countries. The National Zoo is committed to their conservation and to the powerful connection made when visitors experience the magnificence of elephants in the Zoo.
At Elephant Trails, visitors experience the sights, sounds, and smells of being close to the Zoo’s Asian elephants. In addition, interactive exhibits teach visitors about elephants’ physical characteristics, social behaviors, and intelligence and the commitment it takes to care for them at the Zoo.
Elephant Trails spans 8,943 square meters, which is large enough to accommodate up to three separate groups of elephants, including a natural, matriarchal herd and individual bulls. Altogether, the facility can house between eight and ten adult Asian elephants and their young.
The world’s largest lizard, the Komodo dragon, uses its tongue to explore its environment.
The brilliantly colored green tree pythons are a favorite in the Zoo’s Reptile Discovery Center.
At the Reptile Discovery Center, visitors can explore the biology of reptiles and amphibians. Visitors may use listening, visual, and olfactory skills to investigate how “herptiles” feed and communicate. Afterward, they can apply their knowledge to living animals, which include alligator turtles, king cobras, tentacled snakes, alligators, gavials, and Komodo dragons. The Reptile Discovery Center is located in the former Reptile House. Fantastical carved reptiles, sculpted doors, and columns at its main entrance decorate the facade of this Romanesque building which, when it opened in 1931, was recognized by the American Institute of Architects as the outstanding brick building in the eastern United States. In the Small Mammal House, come face-to-face with the sprightly grace of the golden lion tamarin, the uncanny armor of the three-banded armadillo, and the fascinating quills of the prehensile-tailed porcupine. Gaze at naked mole rats as they move from chamber to chamber, and observe the tamandua—an arboreal anteater—searching in logs for its favorite treats: mealworms. Catch a glimpse of rare animals that were on the verge of extinction like the black-footed ferret, or see something native to your own backyard such as the striped skunk.
The National Zoo’s Golden Lion Tamarin Conservation Program has been heralded as the world’s most successful primate conservation program. Visitors can see these monkeys inside year-round at the Small Mammal House.
Several of the National Zoo’s orangutans participate in a computer-based language project at Think Tank.
Think Tank introduces visitors to the science of animal cognition. Thinking ability in animals is presented through the topics of tool use, language, and society. Orangutans, hermit crabs, Norway rats, as well as computers and games stimulate exploration. Orangutans can move between the Think Tank and their Great Ape House enclosures, several hundred feet farther along Olmsted Walk, by swinging, or brachiating, across the Orangutan Transport System. This series of towers connected by heavy cables allows orangutans to move as they would in their heavily forested, tropical homes.
Sumatran tigers, extremely rare in the wild, are ambassadors for the Zoo’s conservation and science initiatives.
Great Cats is home territory for some of the visitors’ favorite animals: lions and tigers.
A walk through Amazonia introduces visitors to the high degree of biological diversity in a tropical rain forest. The 15,000-square-foot rain forest habitat of the exhibit includes a 55,000-gallon aquarium for the display of Amazon River fish. Within Amazonia’s dome, visitors find a living tropical forest with more than 350 species of plants, including 50-foot-tall trees, tropical vines, and epiphytes. This habitat is also home to species of mammals, birds, and insects typical of the Amazon Basin, all moving throughout the exhibit.
The National Zoo’s gorilla family gives visitors insights into the great ape’s behavior and social structure.
The “Amazonia Science Gallery” is an 8,000-square-foot experimental science education/outreach center that brings visitors into the day-to-day world of scientific research and the people who do it. The “Amazonia Science Gallery” includes Amphibian Alert!—a hands-on exhibit—featuring more than 15 species of frogs and other amphibians, including the extinct-in-the-wild Panamanian golden frog. Through close-up animal views and interactive exhibits, visitors discover what’s threatening these amphibian “jewels” and what’s being done to save them. Science On a Sphere (SOS) is a state-of-the-art exhibit created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. SOS effectively illustrates Earth System science to people of all ages.
The Visitor Center, near the Connecticut Avenue entrance, has an auditorium, souvenir shop, and restrooms.
The National Zoo’s Cheetah Conservation Station allows visitors to see this endangered cat in a naturalistic habitat that encourages behavior typical to that observed in the wild.
What the visitor sees at the National Zoo reveals only a small part of the Zoo’s complexity as a scientific research organization. National Zoo scientists, working on the grounds in Washington, DC, and at the 3,200-acre Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, were among the founders of the field of conservation biology. National Zoo scientists continue as leaders today, with global perspectives and long-term experience in conducting zoo- and field-based research. Their discoveries enhance the survival or recovery of species and their habitats, helping to ensure the health and well-being of animals in zoos and their counterparts in the wild. The National Zoo is also a global leader in training the next generation of conservation and zoo professionals through undergraduate, graduate, and professional education that emphasizes well-founded approaches to conservation.
A male Panamanian gold frog at the National Zoo is part of a Species Survival Plan.
Although the Smithsonian Institution received gifts of live animals almost from its beginning, there was no zoo to house and study the living collection. Some of the animals were sent to zoos elsewhere; some were kept on the National Mall. Over the years, a sizable menagerie accumulated outside the Smithsonian Castle. In 1889, Congress established the National Zoological Park at the urging of Samuel Pierpont Langley, third Secretary of the Smithsonian, and William T. Hornaday, a Smithsonian naturalist who was particularly concerned about the looming extinction of the American bison. Six bison were among the animals transferred from the Mall to the National Zoo when the grounds opened in 1891.
Animal collecting expeditions in the early 1900s, together with gifts from individuals and foreign governments and exchanges with other zoos, augmented the Zoo’s population and introduced Washingtonians to rare and exotic animals, including the Tasmanian wolf (now extinct), bongo, and Komodo dragon.
Today, the National Zoo continues to develop a bond between humans and animals that helps visitors understand biology and scientific concepts that will guide them in making informed choices in daily life. Exhibits, educational programs, school programs, training opportunities, and public lectures all bring the rich diversity of life on Earth to a variety of local, national, and international audiences. In the 21st century, the Zoo’s mission is to provide leadership in animal care science, conservation, and public education.
Scimitar-hared oryx can be seen in the Zoo’s Cheetah Conservation Station.
The National Zoo is one of the few places outside New Zealand where people can observe a live kiwi. The Zoo has successfully bred these unique birds.
Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ) is a nonprofit, membership-based organization dedicated to supporting the conservation, education, and science mission of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Since 1958, FONZ has supported the Zoo by implementing education, membership and volunteer programs, hosting special events, raising funds for Zoo projects, and providing guest services for Zoo visitors and grants to Zoo scientists.
To learn more about FONZ programs and membership options, visit fonz.org.
The Zoo is accessible from the Woodley Park/Zoo/Adams Morgan and Cleveland Park Metrorail stations and is accessible by Metrobus. For Metro information, call 202-637-7000 or check the Web site wmata.com. Limited pay parking is available on Zoo lots. Bus-passenger discharge and pickup and limited free bus parking are available.
April–October: Animal exhibits are open from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. every day. November-March: Animal exhibits are open from 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. every day. The Zoo is open every day except December 25.
Guided weekend highlight tours of the Zoo for families, individuals, or groups are available with an eight-week advance reservation. Call Friends of the National Zoo at 202-633-3025.
The Zoo has ramped building entrances and restroom facilities for visitors with disabilities. Strollers may be rented in season for a small fee. A limited number of wheelchairs are available to rent. Zoo police provide lost-and-found service and a refuge for lost children.
The Zoo has a variety of fast-food facilities. Picnic areas are located throughout the grounds, but no outdoor cooking is permitted.
Unique zoo-oriented souvenirs, postcards, books, T-shirts, and art objects are for sale.
Check at the information desks for feeding times and demonstrations.
Consider using public transportation. Zoo parking lots often fill up early in the warm months. Wear comfortable clothing and shoes. During the warmer months, visit early in the day or in the evening, when the park is less crowded and the animals are more active. Fall and early winter are great times to visit the Zoo. For more information, visit nationalzoo.si.edu.
Pets, except certified assistance animals, are not permitted in the park. The area between the guardrail and the enclosure barrier is for your safety and that of the animals. Stay on your side of the guardrail. Zoo animals are wild and easily excited. Do not feed or attempt to touch the animals. The Zoo provides excellent, balanced diets, and additional feeding is unhealthy for them. Do not skate or ride bicycles in the park. Radios and other audio devices must be used with earphones.
