Qualla: National Zoological Park (United States)

National Zoological Park (United States): Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Anday28, CC BY-SA 4.0. In 1889, the American bison was on the brink of extinction. Tens of millions of animals had been reduced to fewer than a thousand by industrial-scale hunting through the late nineteenth century. Smithsonian conservationist William Temple Hornaday, who had spent the previous decade campaigning for bison preservation, helped persuade Congress that the United States needed a national zoo - not as a menagerie of exotic curiosities, but as a refuge for the country's own rapidly disappearing wildlife. The National Zoo, chartered by act of Congress on March 2, 1889, opened with bison and beavers among its first inhabitants. Hornaday was the first director. Samuel Langley, the third Secretary of the Smithsonian, helped plan the institution. Frederick Law Olmsted, the most influential landscape architect of the nineteenth century, designed the layout. The 163-acre property along Rock Creek in Northwest Washington still carries the contours Olmsted drew. The zoo's free admission still draws around two million visitors a year. And the surviving descendants of those original bison live in herds across the West and on protected federal lands - thanks in significant part to what Hornaday and the zoo helped start.

Image: Anday28 | CC BY-SA 4.0

National Zoological Park (United States): Olmsted's Curves

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bridget Samuels from College Park, MD, CC BY 2.0. Olmsted shaped the zoo's layout around the existing topography of Rock Creek - the deep ravine that bisects the property, the gentler ridges above it, the wooded stretches along the creek banks. He designed the walking paths to follow the contours of the land rather than imposing...

Image: Bridget Samuels from College Park, MD | CC BY 2.0

National Zoological Park (United States): Coolidge's Pets

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Cliff from Arlington, Virginia, USA, CC BY 2.0. Through the early twentieth century, the zoo's collection grew through a haphazard mix of presidential gifts and donations. Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge accumulated a famously varied collection of exotic pets, several of which ended up at the National Zoo. The Co...

Image: Cliff from Arlington, Virginia, USA | CC BY 2.0

National Zoological Park (United States): Mei Xiang's Cubs

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rodw at English Wikipedia, Public domain. Giant pandas first arrived at the National Zoo on April 16, 1972 - Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, gifts from China following President Nixon's diplomatic opening. The pandas became among the zoo's most popular attractions for the next thirty years. Hsing-Hsing died in 1999. Ling-Ling...

Image: Rodw at English Wikipedia | Public domain

National Zoological Park (United States): Elephant Trails

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kevin1086, CC BY-SA 3.0. In spring 2008, the zoo began construction on Elephant Trails - a $52 million project to dramatically expand the Asian elephant habitat. The first phase opened in September 2010. The completed facility, finished in 2013, encompasses two acres of outdoor space with two yards (one ...

Image: Kevin1086 | CC BY-SA 3.0

National Zoological Park (United States): The Conservation Campus

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Prabal.tiwari1993, CC BY-SA 4.0. Beyond the Rock Creek campus, the National Zoo operates the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute on 3,200 acres outside Front Royal, Virginia. The SCBI - formerly known as the Conservation and Research Center - is not open to the public. It houses between 30 and 40 endanger...

Image: Prabal.tiwari1993 | CC BY-SA 4.0