Bird keeper Wesley Bailey shares an update on the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s success breding brown kiwi.
Guam kingfishers—a species considered extinct in the wild by the International Union
This tiny, yellowish-green songbird sings a three-note series of accelerating chips. Despite its name, these warblers do not breed in Tennessee, and only pass through the state as they embark on their seasonal migration to their breeding grounds in Canada’s boreal forest.
Occasionally, vagrants are found in northern Europe.
The matamata is a South American turtle with a striking appearance. Its carapace, or shell, is rough and knobby, and its long neck has skin fringes, bumps and ridges. The matamata turtle’s large, flat head features a wide mouth and a long, snorkel-like snout.
Conservation Efforts Matamata turtles are not listed on the International Union
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.
Brown kiwi are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for
Przewalski’s horses, critically endangered horses found in Mongolia, are the last truly wild horse. Once thought to be the ancestor to the domestic horse, they are actually distant cousins. Mitochondrial DNA suggests that they diverged from a common ancestor 500,000 years ago.
Native Habitat Przewalski’s horses once ranged throughout Europe and Asia.
Harbor seals, also known as common seals, spend half their time in the sea and half on land. They have the widest distribution of any seal and live in both the North Atlantic and Northern Pacific oceans, ranging from cool, temperate waters to cold, arctic and sub-arctic coasts.
seals can be born as early as February in Baja California and as late as July in Europe
Red pandas, like giant pandas, are bamboo eaters native to Asia’s high forests. Despite these similarities and their shared name, the two species are not closely related. Red pandas are much smaller than giant pandas and are the only living member of their taxonomic family.
Red pandas have bred with some reliability in zoos throughout North America, Europe
