Wild Inside the National Zoo

Bao Bao, a baby panda at Smithsonian's National Zoo, is celebrating her first birthday. Giant pandas are endangered and less than 2,000 remain on Earth, making Bao Bao's very existence special and the act of raising her more critical. Track her evolution with her caretakers, from a scrawny 4.5 oz. cub to a playful 40 lb. bear who spends her days scaling trees and devouring sweet potatoes.

Within two months, six new lion cubs are born at Smithsonian's National Zoo, tripling the size of its pride. In the wild, lion populations have declined nearly 50% over the last 20 years. The zoo's pride is crucial in growing their numbers and teaching scientists how to best protect nature's most-social cats.

Each summer, Smithsonian's National Zoo is flooded with calls from visitors reporting large brown birds on the loose. Surprise--these supposed fugitives, black-crowned night-herons, are visitors just like them. They've flocked to the zoo for over 100 years, breeding on its grounds and stealing its food for months at a time.

When two red panda babies, Henry and Tink, are born in critical condition at Smithsonian's National Zoo, caretakers make the crucial decision to hand-rear them. There are approximately 10,000 red pandas left in the wild, and very little is known about the species, heightening the pressure to save these two cubs' lives.

Meet Christine, a young Przewalski's horse at Smithsonian's National Zoo, who represents hope for an endangered species once extinct in the wild. These Mongolian equines are the only undomesticated horse breed in existence, and Christine, the first to be born from artificial insemination, is a scientific breakthrough in conservation.

Join caretakers at Smithsonian's National Zoo as they introduce you to the most charismatic creatures in the reptile house--and the very particular pampering they receive daily. See how a 100-year-old tortoise gets a pedicure, meet a picky Grand Cayman iguana who allows only certain caretakers to bathe him, and learn the skin care regimen for the zoo's sole Komodo dragon.