National Zoological Park, Wildlife research complex in Rock Creek Park, Washington DC, United States
The National Zoological Park is a zoo in Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C., with a 163-acre main campus and a 3,200-acre Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia. It holds about 2,700 animals of 390 species, roughly one-fifth endangered or threatened. At the entrance, banners hang from a dark metal archway above a pale stone wall with raised letters "ZOO" and a metal sun emblem.
The Smithsonian Institution founded the park in 1889 to study and protect North American species facing extinction. Over the following decades, the zoo expanded its work to include international conservation programs and opened the second site in Virginia in 1975 for scientific breeding efforts.
The zoo's best-known residents are giant pandas, a line that began in 1972 when China gave Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing to the United States after Nixon's visit. Since 2000 Mei Xiang and Tian Tian have been held under a lease then valued at about $10 million for ten years. The David M. Rubenstein Giant Panda Habitat has three outdoor yards and an indoor hall with rockwork, a small waterfall and a viewing area.
The zoo opens daily with free admission and allows visitors to move freely along paved main paths and steeper side trails. Those who have difficulty walking can use the flatter sections or take the free shuttle bus that runs along the central route.
Two new giant pandas, Bao Li and Qing Bao, arrive from China in early 2025, continuing a tradition that began in the 1970s. Their new enclosure was built through a multi-year upgrade program that expanded indoor and outdoor areas and adapted them to current animal care standards.
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