This photo is so cute, it's ridiculous. more ›

A year-end review of the cute animals born at the National Zoo in 2011. more ›

"Do you want to post a video of baby geese growing up?" Yes. Yes, I do. more ›

I really hope the people responsible for breeding animals at the National Zoo have planned a trip to Vegas or something, because they are on one hell of a ridiculous hot streak when it comes to producing unbelievably adorable stuff. more ›

Okay, look, National Zoo. Here's the deal. You keep sending along these images of adorable baby animals, and maybe -- just maybe -- we'll gradually begin to forget about that whole lack of a baby panda thing. Okay, that's a lie. But these anteater pups go a long way to healing that deep cut that the lot of us felt when Butterstick climbed into his FedEx cage and went back to China forever. more ›

Whenever a slow news day hits the District, we can always count on the National Zoo to lift us from the doldrums. The Zoo announced today that two cheetah cubs have been born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia. more ›

In this video, National Zoo Great Cats curator Craig Saffoe explains why taking care of the National Zoo's lion cubs -- who had a limited debut this weekend -- involves actually involves more work than just sitting there and fawning over how freakin' cute they are. more ›

UPDATE: DCist has received a clarification from the Zoo about tomorrow's debut -- the cubs will not be on display to the public until Monday, when "keepers will be making a decision on a day-by-day basis about whether the cubs are going out and [for] how long," according to a Zoo spokesperson. There will be a "short member preview" tomorrow for Friends of the National Zoo members, but RSVPs to that event went quickly. So, to recap: if you're just a member of the general public, you'll have to wait until at least Monday to see the cubs in person. more ›

It's been a long, hard day of political analysis, fallout and bickering. As a result, I'm pretty sure that nearly everyone in D.C. would be incredibly well-served by watching this video right now and repeating, as necessary. more ›

So here's something to make you smile on this Friday morning -- about 100 kids and a smattering of adults from Meridian Public Charter School, marching down U Street, enthusiastically encouraging people to help the homeless. more ›

Friday is often the day that politicians and organizations dump all of their bad news. Not the National Zoo. Today they posted a batch of adorable pictures of the four lion cubs born in late August to 5-year-old mother Shera and 4-year-old father Luke. Now two-and-a-half weeks old and weighing between seven and eight pounds, they were treated to their first veterinary check-up today. Zookeepers are optimistic that the four will survive, which will be a nice break from the sad news from earlier in the summer when another lion cub died from pneumonia. more ›

This seems like the most appropriate thing we could possibly post on the final Friday afternoon before the Democratic primary: the much-anticipated results of the Washington Humane Society's puppy mayoral endorsement. Totally unfulfilling, yet oh so adorable. more ›

After all, a catchy name will sure come in handy for the little guy -- with 48 brothers and sisters, any advantage in the competition for attention will probably come in handy. This bundle of squee is one of the National Zoo's huge new crop of black-footed ferrets, a species which the Zoo has been working hard to pull back from the brink of extinction. more ›

Yeah, yesterday was a downer for news from the National Zoo. I've been told by several people that I may or may not have ruined their Thursday afternoons by passing along the news that a red panda cub died. (I'm just the conduit, people.) Add in the fact that our beloved Tai Shan is celebrating his fifth birthday so far away, and one can be excused for feeling a little blue about our current quota of cute. more ›

Thanks to frequent Flickr contributor philliefan99 for dropping this heart-tugging video into our pool. These ducklings look they are just too little to hop over those big fountain steps in Pershing Park. All of them except for one, anyway. Spring in D.C. really brings an abundance of cute. We're keeping our fingers crossed for these little guys! more ›

2009 was a real up-and-down year for the National Zoo. Aside from the massive, inevitable loss of our beloved Butterstick, 2009 also saw the Zoo lose an elderly sloth bear, two rare oryx, and Amazonian fish. Even Happy the Hippo hit the road with nary a goodbye. more ›