National Zoological Park (United States)
The Smithsonian National Zoological Park, commonly known in the United States as the National Zoo, is a zoo located in Washington, DC. Founded in 1889, it consists of two distinct installations: a 163 acre (0.7 km²) zoo within the Rock Creek Park in Washington DC, and a 3,200 acre (13 km²) Conservation and Research Center located in Front Royal, Virginia, at the edge of the Shenandoah National Park. The zoo in Washington DC is open to the public and dedicated in large part to education; the conservation center in Virginia is closed to the public and used primarily to breed and study endangered species. Altogether, the two facilities contain some 2,700 animals of 435 different species.
The National Zoo was founded by famed naturalist and American conservation leader William T. Hornaday. Hornaday, then serving as a taxadermist for the Smithsonian, became increasingly concerned over the decline of many native American species, most notably the American bison. Hornaday envisioned a facility that would breed endangered American animals in captivity and educate the public about wildlife. He opened a small trial zoo outside the Smithsonian castle featuring bison, bears, and other American animals. With the aid of the Secretary of the Smithsonian, Congress approved of the founding of a National Zoological Park in Rock Creek Park; Hornaday, embittered over not being chosen as director, left Washington in disgust. He latter went on to help found and serve as the first director of the Bronx Zoo.
The zoo grew slowly, mostly from contributions of animals from the public and circuses, and lurched to the edge of closure many times in its early history. It did not begin to truly grow until William Mann became the zoo's third director, prior to World War II. Mann organized collecting expeditions around the world to bring a variety of species to the zoo, some common place, "must haves" like giraffes and leopards, others great rarities, like a young gorilla. Today the National Zoo is recognized as one of the premier zoological institutions in the United States, largely on account of the import research it contributes to wildlife conservation. The 116-year-old zoo attracts 2 million visitors a year, according to the Washington Post in 2005.
The National Zoo also maintains numerous field stations around the world, providing expertise and logistical support to local research and conservation efforts in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North and South America.
The National Zoo maintains its own security police, the National Zoological Park Police, which consists of 50 full-time and part-time officers. They have concurrent jurisdiction over the zoo with the U.S. Park Police and the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department.
Special events
Annually, each Easter Monday, the National Zoo serves as the venue for the African American Family Celebration. This celebration has been a tradition for more than 100 years. The celebration began in response to the inability of African Americans to participate in the annual Easter Egg Roll held at the White House, until the Eisenhower presidency.
Exhibits and Animals of Note
Reptile Discovery Center - Home to the zoo reptile collection, including cobras, crocodiles, and Komodo dragons. The first Komodo dragon born outside of Indonesia was hatched at the National Zoo.
Bird House - Features a nocturnal room for kiwis and a free-flight room for tropical birds. Outside walkways pass yards of larger birds, such as cassowaries, cranes, flamingos, and king vultures.
Cheetah Conservation Station - Besides the cheetahs (the first litter of cheetah cubs in the zoo's history was produced in fall 2004), the cheetah area displays maned wolves, oryx, and Grevy's zebra.
Amazonia - This South American immersion exhibit features a walk through rainforest, home to sloth, small monkeys, birds, and tortoises and a massive freshwater aquarium of large Amazonian fish.
Invertebrate House - A unique collection of invertebrates, including coral, anemones, and a giant Pacific octopus. A butterfly room/Pollinarium is also part of the exhibit. Chris is a girl.. pwned ... lollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollollolv
Animal care controversy
In the past few years, mismanagement has led to the accidental deaths of around two dozen animals in the National Zoo's care, threatening the Zoo's accreditation and causing the resignation of its director, Lucy Spelman, at the end of 2004. One incident involved the January 2003 death of two endangered red pandas after they ate rat poison pellets that were buried in their yard; the poison was deployed by an illegally hired unlicensed exterminator, and the incident led the city of Washington to seek to fine the Zoo over its claim of federally granted immunity. In late 2002 and early 2003, besides the red pandas, the Zoo experienced the deaths of a pygmy hippo, a bobcat, a cheetah, a lion, a gray seal, and a giraffe. On July 4, 2003, a bald eagle died, a story the Washington Post would headline "Nation's Emblem of Freedom Dies on Independence Day"[1]. Between December 2003 and December 2004, five animal deaths occurred: a female lion, an emu, a ring-tailed lemur, an orangutan, and a Komodo dragon.
In January 2005, the National Academy of Sciences released its final report on a two-year investigation into animal care and management at the National Zoo. The committee consisting of veterinarians and scientists evaluated 74% of all large mammal deaths that occurred at the National Zoo from 1999 to 2003. They concluded that "in a majority of cases, the animal received appropriate care throughout its lifetime. In particular, the committee’s evaluation of randomly sampled megavertebrate deaths at the Rock Creek Park facility revealed few questions about the appropriateness of these animals’ care, suggesting that the publicized animal deaths were not indicative of a wider, undiscovered problem with animal care at the Rock Creek Park facility." [2] This finding, however, was not widely reported by the Washington Post nor other media outlets.
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