Two mysterious and secretive residents recently arrived at the Reptile Discovery Center: Iranian fat-tailed geckos! Get the scoop on this rad brother-sister duo from animal keeper Sara Hasenstab.
Other geckos do not have eyelids, so they can’t blink!
Listen up! Rosalie’s now 7-week-old cubs are feisty, playful and healthy. Keepers even captured a video of one cub up-close to the fence, chirping. Read on to learn to speak cheetah and get the latest scoop on these cubs!
They have a lot more energy and confidence now – with us and each other.
Gorillas are the largest of the great apes, but the western lowland gorilla is the smallest of the subspecies. Native to the Congo Basin, the western lowland gorilla is a quiet, peaceful and nonaggressive animal threatened by disease and poaching.
Western lowland gorillas may have a more brownish coloration.
There are 30 species of plated lizards, and the African plated lizard (also called the giant plated lizard) is one of the largest. It has a squat body, plate-like scales and powerful legs.
They have thick bodies and powerful legs, which aid in both speed and digging.
We are sad to share that Betty, our “matriarch” flamingo, was found deceased in her habitat Jan. 25. At 67 years old, she was the oldest Caribbean flamingo in the North American population.
ready to hatch, they return the egg to the nesting grounds and give it to pairs who have
Gray seals, also called horsehead seals, are amazingly dexterous swimmers. They are common on both sides of the north Atlantic.
They have massive shoulders and necks with large folds of skin.
What animal can rotate its head 180 degrees, has ears that function like satellites and marks its territory (and members of its social group) with urine? Meet our southern lesser galago brothers, Mopani and Damara!
The pair arrived in February and have settled into their new digs at the Small Mammal
Guinea pigs are rodents that were first domesticated in 5,000 B.C. The domesticated species, Cavia porcellus, is most likely derived from the Andean Cavia tschudii (or montane guinea pig), found in Peru, highland Bolivia, northwestern Argentina, and northeastern Chile.
Guinea pigs have no tails.
The secret to salamanders’ survival may be in their slimy secretions. Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute are swabbing salamanders in Shenandoah, looking for disease-fighting microbes that live in the mucus on their skin.
susceptible to chytrid, while others may come into contact with the fungus and have
The ruddy turnstone is a short legged, chunky sandpiper with an extensive wintering range. Turnstones are known for sticking their bills under stones, pebbles and shells, and flipping them over to find food.
Nonbreeding adults have a brown feather pattern.
