Smithsonian National Zoo Smithsonian's National Zoo News 2024

Nile Hippo Expert

Nile Hippo Expert

Well-Known Member
Yesterday, the zoo announced via Instagram that their queen female Naked Mole Rat passed away on November 30th at the age of 11 years.
Smithsonian's National Zoo on Instagram: "Five years into her reign, the naked mole-rat colony at the Zoo lost its 11-year-old queen Nov. 30. The cause of death? Another naked mole-rat. Naked mole-rats are a eusocial species, meaning their colony follows a single breeding female (the queen) and nonbreeding individuals care for the queen's young or provide for the colony in some other fashion, similar to a hive of bees or a colony of ants. We don’t know exactly what causes a mole-rat power struggle to begin. But now, the search is on for the next queen. So how do naked mole-rats choose their queen? Assistant curator of the Small Mammal House Kenton Kerns answers all your questions in our new blog! Use the link in our bio to find out more. Image description: a photo of a naked mole-rat. Several other naked mole-rats can be seen in the background."
 
Jambo said:
The Mongolian Wild Horse filly born last year has been named ‘Maeve’.

Smithsonian's National Zoo on Instagram: "Galloping over to share the good news In 2023, we shared the story of a Przewalski's horse filly who broke her leg shortly after birth. We're thrilled to share that not only has she grown into a healthy, confident young horse, she now has a name: Maeve, an Irish name meaning "she who rules." Maeve, her mother and the rest of the herd are doing well at our conservation facility in Front Royal, Virginia. Click the link in our bio to read the original article about Maeve's recovery. Video description: video shows scenes of a young horse, initially limping, progressing to running and jumping. Over the course of the video, she grows older, stronger and larger."
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This is at the private park and not at the zoo.
 
Other November 2023 News Not Mentioned:

On November 17th, it was announced that the zoo transferred a (1.0) red-legged seriema named Einstein to the ABQ BioPark Zoo in New Mexico.

ABQ BioPark Brings in Some New Animals, Helps Others Move to New Homes — City of Albuquerque

On November 22nd, it was announced that the zoo transferred (0.2) blue-billed curassows to The Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Utah.

The Living Planet Aquarium

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On January 30th, the institute announced that the (3.2) cheetahs born on September 12th were temporarily named Back Shave, Left Hip Shave, Left Shoulder Shave, and Right Shoulder Shave, with another female cheetah being named Stripe. The institute also announced that Left Shoulder Shave and Right Shoulder Shave were sired by (1.0) Asante, while Back Shave, Left Hip Shave, and Stripe were sired by (1.0) Flash.

Also on January 30th, it was reported that the zoo acquired a (0.1) sandhill crane named Sandy from the Humane Indiana Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center in Indiana which is now on exhibit in the Bird House.

How Genomic Science Solved a Cheetah Paternity Mystery
Sandy, the rehabilitated sandhill crane, finds forever home at the Smithsonian National Zoo
 
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As expected, the Reptile Discovery Center looks to be the next historic animal house at the Zoo due to be renovated.

A summary from their somewhat recently published Notice:

"The Smithsonian Institution (“Smithsonian”) is providing this Notice of a Pending Solicitation. The formal Solicitation will be Posted on or about January 2024. The Smithsonian will be seeking Proposals for a firm-fixed-price Architect-Engineer Multidiscipline Contract that would provide planning, design, construction document and construction phase services for the renewal of the current Reptile House (also known as the Reptile Discovery Center) into the Amphibian Reptile Conservation Center (ARCC) at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) in Washington, DC.

Objective: To provide planning and design services for the Amphibian Reptile Conservation Center (ARCC), an approximately $60 million multi-year, major renovation of a highly visited historic building; NZCBI has 1.8 million visitors annually. The renovated facility will provide exciting and engaging reptile and amphibian exhibits, education opportunities, animal holding spaces, visitor amenities including public restrooms, staff offices and support spaces. These program elements will reflect NZCBI’s commitment to animal and staff welfare and well-being. The renovation is expected to include the replacement of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire detection and fire protection systems. This includes animal smoke control, aquatic animal life support systems, IT and security. Improvements or upgrades include structural, building envelope, public circulation and exhibit viewing. This project will provide new interpretive exhibit design, accessible and inclusive design within the building and adjacent site, vertical transportation, and abatement of hazardous materials. Additional site work to include several exterior animal exhibits, including a dedicated Komodo dragon facility, storm water management, utility upgrades, landscape design, and renovation of the adjacent information/food service Kiosk. The main entrance portico that has been removed and stored by Smithsonian is to be conserved and reinstalled. The scope of work awarded under this solicitation includes the confirmation of programming, studies, concept design, schematic design, design development, construction documents, and A/E Construction Phase Services, as well as services to achieve at a minimum USGBC LEED Gold, and possibly SITES certification and other sustainable certifications."
 
ZooElephantMan said:
Why was it expected that the Reptile Discovery Center would be next?
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The Zoo has long stated in its Master Plan that each historic house would receive a 21st Century overhaul. A few years ago in 2020, the historic mosaic portico was removed for preservation. The Zoo stated at the time, "Portico reconstruction to match the historic condition will occur in approximately five to ten years as part of future rehabilitation of the Reptile House."

From a 2023 social media post:
“In addition, the Reptile Discover Center is in the process of planning an extensive renewal of our building, which opened in 1931. Alongside curatorial staff, keepers played a significant role in providing their thoughts, ideas, dreams and feedback for this project. This is critical work as we help produce a fantastic metamorphosis of the Reptile Discovery Center and move toward a new era of efficiencies and experiences.”

Finally, of the two historic houses remaining, the other being the Small Mammal House, the Reptile house is in most dire need of renovations.
 
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It's amazing at how expensive it is to renovate historic buildings. The National Zoo spent 6 years and $70 million to redo its Bird House, in a project that seemed to take forever as it partially occurred during the Covid era. Now it's going to be at least $60 million to renovate the Reptile House and I'm sure that construction will also take several years.

Different cities have different costs. I remember when Fort Worth Zoo, in Texas, tore down its 1960 Herpetarium and built MOLA, without a doubt one of the best Reptile Houses on the planet. It only cost $20 million and opened in 2010. The National Zoo in Washington, D.C., is going to spend triple that amount (or more as costs increase) to overhaul an existing building. When it's all done, I doubt that it will be as great as the incredible MOLA. I suppose that in certain cities, costs can escalate quickly on construction projects, but one would think that the National Zoo could build a brand-new, modern Reptile House for less money than what they are spending on an older structure. The preservation of history is expensive!
 
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snowleopard said:
It's amazing at how expensive it is to renovate historic buildings. The National Zoo spent 6 years and $70 million to redo its Bird House, in a project that seemed to take forever as it partially occurred during the Covid era. Now it's going to be at least $60 million to renovate the Reptile House and I'm sure that construction will also take several years.

Different cities have different costs. I remember when Fort Worth Zoo, in Texas, tore down its 1960 Herpetarium and built MOLA, without a doubt one of the best Reptile Houses on the planet. It only cost $20 million and opened in 2010. The National Zoo in Washington, D.C., is going to spend triple that amount (or more as costs increase) to overhaul an existing building. When it's all done, I doubt that it will be as great as the incredible MOLA. I suppose that in certain cities, costs can escalate quickly on construction projects, but one would think that the National Zoo could build a brand-new, modern Reptile House for less money than what they are spending on an older structure. The preservation of history is expensive!
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The amount of money sunk into these projects is quite staggering when you compare similar projects from other zoos. Granted, DC does have high construction and labor costs overall like you said, but $60 million is a lot of money! On top of the high costs with building anything in DC, then you add the historic aspect as well, which also adds additional costs. Further complicating DC projects in particular are the extra bureaucratic hoops the Zoo must jump through for planning permission. Time is money as they say and the longer a project sits in review, the greater the costs. I certainly would not want to be a facility manager/ exhibit designer at the National Zoo - that would be a headache!

If the Reptile House (now potentially named the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Center) is anything like the newly opened Bird House, DC will certainly have some stunning historic animal houses.
 
Reptile Discovery Center is one of my favorite reptile buildings I've seen in my relatively few travels. I really hope to see it again before it closes and I'm excited to see what it becomes!
 
NAIB Volunteer said:
"The Smithsonian Institution (“Smithsonian”) is providing this Notice of a Pending Solicitation. The formal Solicitation will be Posted on or about January 2024. The Smithsonian will be seeking Proposals for a firm-fixed-price Architect-Engineer Multidiscipline Contract that would provide planning, design, construction document and construction phase services for the renewal of the current Reptile House (also known as the Reptile Discovery Center) into the Amphibian Reptile Conservation Center (ARCC) at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) in Washington, DC.
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Does anybody know if this project will include renovating the now long-closed and much-missed Invertebrate House exhibit space for public animal exhibits again?
 
DavidBrown said:
Does anybody know if this project will include renovating the now long-closed and much-missed Invertebrate House exhibit space for public animal exhibits again?
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I don't have any direct knowledge - only what has been publicly stated. When the Invertebrate House closed the zoo stated at the time they'd look to add inverts again in some sort of Hall of Biodiversity (whatever that means) and nothing as a part of the zoos 20 year master plan.
 
NAIB Volunteer said:
I don't have any direct knowledge - only what has been publicly stated. When the Invertebrate House closed the zoo stated at the time they'd look to add inverts again in some sort of Hall of Biodiversity (whatever that means) and nothing as a part of the zoos 20 year master plan.
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What is in the current master plan exhibit-wise other than renovating the animal houses? Did they give up on trying to bring back giraffes and rhinos at some point?
 
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