Fall might just be the most magical time to visit the Smithsonian’s National Zoo: crisp air, crunchy leaves, and — this year — a whole lineup of new animal arrivals waiting to say hello. Here are five newcomers you can meet on your next visit.
Slow down at the Small Mammal House or you’ll miss Olive, a 4-year-old southern two-toed sloth who made her debut in August. This curious, spirited girl loves exploring her new home, venturing down to visit Darlene the agouti, and playing with a water hose. Olive arrived from Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan, and keepers have high hopes she and Vlad, the Zoo’s 40-year-old male sloth, might one day have babies.
Near Lemur Island on Olmsted Walk, say hi to the four ladies: Zsa Zsa Gaboar, Mia Hamm, Mariska Hogitay and Hamela Anderson. They’re Chacoan peccaries, pig-like mammals native to South America’s Gran Chaco — and their pun-tastic names were chosen by the keeper team.
In Amazonia, meet Tonto and Estrella, a pair of wattled jacanas whose impossibly long toes let them walk across lily pads, and Ameelia Bedeelia, a 40-inch electric eel whose body doubles as living radar in muddy rivers. Over at the Bird House, Forrest — a rescued Forster’s tern — is learning the ropes of his new shorebird home.
Admission to the National Zoo is free, so grab a sweater and come say hello to the new faces of fall.
Photo: Smithsonian’s National Zoo / Kara Ingraham
