The National Zoo's Twitter feed brings a tiny mouthful of adorable today in the form of a one-week-old red panda cub. The cub joins the two adults already living at the Zoo's nature trail (we suppose this is how these things usually proceed). Quoth the Zoo's release on the topic, "It was love at first sight for Shama and Tate, the Zoo's red pandas, and now, nearly a year and a half after they were introduced, the pair has a cub as evidence of their strong bond. On June 16, Shama gave birth to a single cub—the first for both of the Zoo’s red pandas and the first red panda cub born at the Zoo's D.C. campus in 15 years." more ›

It's been at least a couple months since we had any new baby animals to coo over at the National Zoo, but the wait is now over! The Zoo recently posted these photos to its Flickr feed of its new dama gazelle calf. The baby gazelle, a girl, was born on Friday to proud parents Adara and Rajih. more ›

As if an anteater pup, a baby gorilla, and fluffy leopard cubs weren't enough: the AP is reporting that the National Zoo is temporarily closing the panda house to determine whether or not Mei Xiang is having a cub. The most recent round of insemination from Tian Tian was in January -- Mei Xiang has been sprucing up the den and doing some cuddling recently, so who knows? Drink from the water fountains at the Zoo at your own risk, people. more ›

Though the National Zoo had expected and prepared for a second black and rufous giant elephant-shrew birth in as many weeks, staff grew concerned when the giant elephant-shrew appeared outside its nest three days after it was born -- nearly three weeks before it should have. Something was wrong. But on Sunday, before zoo staff could intervene, the baby elephant-shrew was killed by its mother. more ›

DCist got word that the National Zoo discovered a second baby elephant shrew, adding to the birth at the beginning of the month. According to our tipster, zoo attendee Luke Berndt, zookeepers who found the baby animal yesterday were surprised, but that shouldn't be a surprise to you -- elephant shrew births are rare and sometimes elude keepers and moreover here. I count two noses in that picture, one looking quite a lot younger than the other. Apparently, keepers are considering taking the baby out of the exhibit for a bit because the baby is so young. more ›