Saving Coral: Growing Coral Larave from Frozen Sperm
Creator:
National Zoo
Type:
Youtube videos
Uploaded:
2013-12-20T22:00:30.000Z
Video Title:
Saving Coral: Growing Coral Larave from Frozen Sperm
Description:
One of the main goals of Mary Hagedorn & her team's trip this year was prove the usefulness and functionality of our frozen coral banks. One of the first steps in that was to create coral larvae from sperm that had been previously frozen
Help your middle school earn a "Seal" of Approval. One lucky group will win an exclusive look at the Zoo's new seal and sea lion exhibit! It's easy to feel small in the face of large environmental problems, especially now with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but kids can make a huge difference. How? By starting an eco-team to educate classmates and inspire them to take action for marine life. This new contest challenges kids nationwide to get their schools and communities involved to improve the environment for marine life. A healthy planet starts in your school (and school yard) even for people who live far from the ocean. We will provide the tools you need to get started, and National Zoo Green Team members will be on hand to help you along the way. Depending on your school's environmental priorities, there are four ways you can achieve a "Seal" of Approval. Form your team and follow easy instructions that will help you reduce waste, improve energy use, and create healthier environment for students and local wildlife.
Happy New Year from the Smithsonian's National Zoo: Celebrating 125 years in 2014
Creator:
National Zoo
Type:
Youtube videos
Uploaded:
2014-12-22T21:58:39.000Z
Video Title:
Happy New Year from the Smithsonian's National Zoo: Celebrating 125 years in 2014
Description:
Friends, this year we celebrated our 125th anniversary and happily reflect on all we have accomplished. Your support makes our work to care for, study and save species possible. From our WILD family to yours, thank you for a fantastic anniversary year and we look forward to seeing you in 2015. Happy New Year!
National Zoo vets and keepers give you a look at the brown kiwi chick before it even hatched! They examine the egg while it is "pipping," which is the stage immediately prior to hatching.
Smithsonian's National Zoo Critter Cupids -- Available Now!
Creator:
National Zoo
Type:
Youtube videos
Uploaded:
2013-02-05T17:49:54.000Z
Video Title:
Smithsonian's National Zoo Critter Cupids -- Available Now!
Description:
Critter Cupids are on sale now to support the Smithsonian's National Zoo. Go to https://subscribe.smithsonianmag.com/zoo to choose from Panda Kisses; Amour of the Tiger; Otterageous Family; Sea, You're my Best Friend; and Firefoxy Friends! Customize and send your Critter Cupid in time for Valentine's Day to show someone special how much you care about them. Video and graphics produced by Elliott Fabrizio.
Keepers say that Shera's cubs, now two weeks old are thriving and beginning to overcome the first milestones of their lives. All of the cubs have now opened their eyes! Recently, they began to venture from the cubbing den (where they were born) into an adjacent enclosure under Shera's watchful eye. You can watch them on the Zoo's cub cam, but since you can't watch the cub cam 24/7, check out this video to see Shera's sister, Nababiep watch Shera's cubs. The Smithsonian's National Zoo's five-year-old female lion, Shera, gave birth to four cubs between 10:30 p.m. August 30 and 2:00 a.m. August 31. The father is 4-year-old Luke.
Saving Coral: Using Modern Fertility Techniques to Conserve Coral
Creator:
National Zoo
Type:
Youtube videos
Uploaded:
2013-12-20T22:02:45.000Z
Video Title:
Saving Coral: Using Modern Fertility Techniques to Conserve Coral
Description:
Coral around the world are in peril. SCBI's Dr. Hagedorn's team uses modern fertility techniques to help conserve coral and ensure their existence into the future. They cryopreserve (or freeze) coral sperm and eggs using modern fertility techniques, which could be used to repopulate the oceans in as many as hundreds of years from now
Broll: Smithsonian’s National Zoo Andean Bear Brothers Receive Names
Creator:
National Zoo
Type:
Youtube videos
Uploaded:
2015-03-26T21:07:15.000Z
Video Title:
Broll: Smithsonian’s National Zoo Andean Bear Brothers Receive Names
Description:
Smithsonian's National Zoo: Andean Bear Cub Debut and Name Reveal / Thu., March 26 Speakers: Dr. Brandie Smith Associate Director for Animal Care Sciences Damaris Diaz Correspondent for ¡Despierta América! Dr. Luis Miguel Castilla Ambassador of Peru
Smithsonian's National Zoo Receives $4.5 Million for Giant Panda Program
Creator:
National Zoo
Type:
Youtube videos
Uploaded:
2011-12-20T17:11:25.000Z
Video Title:
Smithsonian's National Zoo Receives $4.5 Million for Giant Panda Program
Description:
David M. Rubenstein donated $4.5 million to the Smithsonian's National Zoo to fund the giant panda program for the next five years. The gift will be used to fund conservation efforts in China, reproductive science, professional training programs, giant panda care at the Zoo, upgrades to the Zoo habitats and public education. In appreciation, the giant panda complex—home to giant pandas Tian Tian (male) and Mei Xiang (female)—will be named the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat. In addition, young conservation biologists in the U.S. and in China who are awarded National Zoo fellowships for their work to save this endangered species will be named "David M. Rubenstein Fellows."
From the Panda Cam Vault: Bao Bao Testing Her Climbing Skills
Creator:
National Zoo
Type:
Youtube videos
Uploaded:
2014-08-11T20:15:24.000Z
Video Title:
From the Panda Cam Vault: Bao Bao Testing Her Climbing Skills
Description:
In honor of Bao Bao's first birthday and giant panda conservation the Smithsonian's National Zoo is sharing clips from the panda cams collected over the past year. Join in the celebration and tweet your birthday wishes for Bao Bao, and include what she represents for giant panda conservation using #BaoBaoBday!
After 100 days and 123,039 votes the giant panda cub at the Smithsonian's National Zoo received her name —Bao Bao— on Sunday, Dec. 1. Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough, Ambassador Cui Tiankai from the People's Republic of China and Assistant Secretary Kerri-Ann Jones from the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs revealed her name at a ceremony celebrating the cub's first 100 days of life. Bao Bao translates as precious or treasure in English. It was one of five Mandarin Chinese names that were offered for a public online vote from Nov. 5 to Nov. 22.
Our gray seal pup is growing quickly! With her white lanugo coat almost completely gone she's starting to look very grown up. But she's still a rookie when it comes to eating fish. She still likes to play with her food before eating it! However, we give her extra points for artistic expression! #ZooGames #WeSaveSpecies
B-roll for Media: SCBI Researchers Discover Widespread Malaria Parasite in White-Tailed Deer
Creator:
National Zoo
Type:
Youtube videos
Uploaded:
2016-02-05T18:58:29.000Z
Video Title:
B-roll for Media: SCBI Researchers Discover Widespread Malaria Parasite in White-Tailed Deer
Description:
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute Researchers Discover Widespread Malaria Parasite in White-Tailed Deer Additional Research Will Determine Health Risk to Deer and Related Species In a serendipitous turn of events, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) and partners have discovered a malaria parasite, Plasmodium odocoilei, in up to 25 percent of white-tailed deer along the East Coast of the United States. The results, published Feb. 5 in Science Advances, represent the only native malaria parasite found in mammals in the Americas and the first malaria parasite found in a deer species. “We were screening mosquitoes at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo for bird malaria parasites when we found a few mosquitoes with parasite DNA sequences unlike any we had seen before,” said Ellen Martinsen, lead author of the paper and an SCBI postdoc. “It took detective work and close collaboration to unravel this mystery that ultimately redefines our understanding of the evolutionary history and distribution of the malaria parasites of mammals.” Before this study, which was a collaboration with scientists at the American Museum of Natural History, the National Park Service, the University of Georgia, the University of Vermont and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the malaria parasite had only been documented once in a single deer in Texas in a paper published in 1967 and not seen since then. SCBI researchers not only found that malaria parasites are widespread in white-tailed deer, but also that there are two genetic lineages, probably different species, of malaria parasites. They also found that although the parasites are common across deer populations, they occur in low levels within individuals. It was not until the scientists used sensitive molecular genetics methods that they were able to detect the parasite in the samples. “People intensively study white-tailed deer and their pathogens, so it was surprising to find two malaria parasites,” said Rob Fleischer, co-author of the paper and head of SCBI’s Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics. “It’s quite surprising to discover something about a species in our backyards, much less so about the rare and endangered species in faraway places. This kind of research is vital to helping us better understand wildlife health threats and potential transmission of pathogens between native wildlife and endangered animals in human care.” The discovery has led to a host of new questions that the team of researchers hope to answer: What are malaria’s effects on white-tailed deer and do those effects vary based on life stages? Could the parasite infect other hoofed species such as cows on dairy farms or endangered antelopes in human care? (Humans themselves should be safe from infection.) Why is the parasite so common in deer populations throughout the southeastern United States, but exists at such low levels within individual deer? To what extent does malaria affect white-tailed deer in the western part of the United States? The team also aims to confirm that the parasite came over the Bering Land Bridge in the ancestor of the white-tailed deer. Samples for this study came from necropsied deer in the Pathology Lab at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and SCBI’s headquarters in Front Royal, Va. Blood samples came from live white-tailed deer in Front Royal. The researchers analyzed the deer samples and mosquitoes collected around the Zoo’s Bird House at SCBI’s Genetics Lab. “Within SCBI, we could assemble a team of ecologists, geneticists, curators and veterinarians on a single issue,” said Bill McShea, co-author of the paper and SCBI ecologist. “An interesting observation quickly evolved into a detailed study of a common wildlife species using all aspects of the conservation community at SCBI. I was amazed at the quick response of all partners around this single observation.” The paper’s other authors are Nancy McInerney, Heidi Brightman, Tavis Forrester, Lisa Ware and Priscilla Joyner from SCBI; Ken Ferebee from Rock Creek National Park (National Park Service); Tim Walsh from the National Zoo; Susan Perkins from the American Museum of Natural History; Emily Latch from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Michael Yabsley from the University of Georgia; and Joseph Schall from the University of Vermont.
It's time to congratulate the world's finest animaletes in the National Zoo Games at the Smithsonian's National Zoo! We hope you had a great time following along here, on Facebook and on Twitter as the Zoo posted photos, videos and fun facts broadcasting the best of sport in the animal kingdom. As our animals go for gold, we kept a close eye on their human counterparts in a campaign to name our three-month-old cheetah cubs after the fastest American athletes in the 100-meter races, Carmelita Jeter and Justin Gatlin. Be sure to visit Smithsonian's National Zoo to congratulate our animaletes!
It's time to celebrate the world's finest animaletes in the National Zoo Games at the Smithsonian's National Zoo! Our next event is weightlifting, featuring the African Lion, the Giant Panda, and the Leafcutter Ant. Be sure to vote for your favorite animalete on the Smithsonian's National Zoo's facebook page. Follow along here, on Facebook and on Twitter for the next few weeks as the Zoo posts photos, videos and fun facts broadcasting the best of sport in the animal kingdom, from weightlifting ants to water polo playing lions. Each activity that the animals participate in is an important component of the Zoo's Animal Enrichment program, which provides physically and mentally stimulating activities and environments for the Zoo's residents. And as our animals go for gold, we'll be keeping a close eye on their human counterparts in a campaign to name our three-month-old cheetah cubs after the fastest American athletes in the 100-meter races.
Smithsonian and George Mason Break Ground on New Academic Center
Creator:
National Zoo
Type:
Youtube videos
Uploaded:
2011-07-11T15:39:12.000Z
Video Title:
Smithsonian and George Mason Break Ground on New Academic Center
Description:
Scientists and educators from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and George Mason University are donning their hard hats and dusting off their shovels to break ground June 29 on a green-design conservation complex that embodies the concept of the living classroom. Since October 2008, the Smithsonian--Mason Global Conservation Studies Program has trained future conservationists with an interdisciplinary and interactive program at SCBI headquarters, the Smithsonian National Zoological Park's 3,200-acre facility in Front Royal, Va. There, undergraduate, graduate and professional students from the U.S. and abroad participate in courses taught by prominent scientists and educators from the Zoo, Mason, and other institutions. The Smithsonian--Mason Program began with 15 undergraduate students in the fall of 2008. When the expansion is complete in fall 2012, SCBI Front Royal will be able to accept 60 undergraduate students and 60 graduate students and professionals.