Thanks to the Smithsonian Internship Program, I was able to go on a tour behind-the-scenes at the Smithsonian Zoological Park. Before the park opened, we were taken into the big cat housing area and shown around by the curator of that area. While the animals spend most of their time in the habitats, at night they are taken to an indoor housing area. We were able to stand about five feet away from the lions during this tour (which was intimidating, fence or not!)
The curator's discussion was quite interesting. One of the major issues the zoo is currently facing is getting some of the rarer animals to breed, so he discussed the process of introducing mating pairs and some biological issues of breeding them. He also discussed the personalities and quirks of the different breeds and the individual cats, and described his own path to becoming curator (which began with the Smithsonian Internship Program!)
This was a great experience, and the zoo itself is quite impressive. It houses over 400 species, including the popular pandas. The zoo is right on the red line, and is free to the public.
-KS
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