Image description: Picasso or Panda? Giant panda Tian Tian gets his paws dirty with non-toxic water-based paint at the National Zoo. Painting is one among many activities that fall under Animal Enrichment—a program that provides physically and mentally stimulating activities and environments for the Zoo’s residents.

Art produced by many of the Zoo’s mammal and bird residents will be available for purchase at the National Capital chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK) Art Show, which will take place spring 2012.

Photo by Smithsonian’s National Zoo

Image description: An Aldabra tortoise eats some grass at the National Zoo, in Washington, D.C.

Photo by Jessie Cohen, Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

Image description: A golden orb spider spins a web at the National Zoo.

Photo by Jessie Cohen, Smithsonian’s National Zoo

Image description: Two red panda (Ailurus fulgens) cubs born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo on June 17 received a clean bill of health during their first veterinary exam yesterday. They appear to be very healthy, strong, active and have good vocalizations. Zoo veterinarian Margarita Woc-Colburn performed a complete physical exam and administered their first set of vaccines. She confirmed both cubs are female and are gaining weight steadily, weighing in at 374 grams (13 ounces) and 460 grams (one pound).

These cubs, which do not yet have names, are the first surviving offspring of three-year-old mother Shama and four-year-old father Tate. Visitors will be able to see the cubs and their parents at the Asia Trail exhibit this fall.

Photo by Mehgan Murphy, Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

From the National Zoo:

A female clouded leopard at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) in Front Royal, Virginia, gave birth to a litter of two cubs Monday, March 28. Staff had been on a pregnancy watch of the two-year-old Sita for one day. Sita gave birth to the first cub at 1:15 p.m. and the second cub at 1:25 p.m. The male cub weighed 9.48 ounces and the female cub weighed 7.76 ounces. This is the first litter for Sita, who came from the Nashville Zoo, and the father, two-year-old Ta Moon. The cubs are being hand-reared by SCBI staff.

The cubs’ births are significant as they represent a second generation of genetically valuable clouded leopards at SCBI. Ta Moon’s birth in March 2009 marked the first time clouded leopard cubs were born at SCBI after 16 years. The breeding of clouded leopards has been a challenge, primarily because of male aggression. These new cubs are the direct result of SCBI’s scientific breakthrough in animal care science to introduce males to their mates when they are six months old. This allows the pair to grow up together and reduce the risk of agressive attacks.

The Zoo has been working with clouded leopards at SCBI since 1978, with the goal of creating a genetically diverse population. In the past 30 years, more than 70 clouded leopards have been born at SCBI. The clouded leopards at the Front Royal campus are in need of a new home. They currently live in a facility that was built in 1911. In 2009, the National Zoo kicked off a campaign to raise $2 million to build a new facility. The habitats for each breeding pair will include a climate-controlled and quiet indoor area attached to two 20-foot-tall outdoor towers furnished with climbing structures, which will simulate their natural forest environment.