Excursion Report

Trip to the National Zoological Garden, Washington, DC

Landon Maki

May 4th, 2025
While at the Nation Zoo I explored many of the exhibits and displays. Two that I found very interesting were the Amazonian and Reptile Discovery Center:
Amazonian: Each species in the Amazonian has information describing the physical characteristics, eating habits, living conditions, and other fun facts about the species. Some of the species displayed are freshwater stingrays, shovelnose catfish, yellow-romped cacique, roseate spoonbill, scarlet ibis, coral species, and many more. I found interactive displays, videos, and posters in the Amazonian and I believe they were pretty helpful in sharing more information and providing details on how environments are changing due to climate change and other factors. The coral section really provided good information on the species and how they are being negatively affected. I believe this hall is aimed at middle schooler level because I believe it is intriguing enough with the whole free range area but also has information to it which can be taken in at a high level for learning purposes.
Reptile Discovery Center: Each species in the reptile discovery center has information about eating habits, range in the world, habitats it would be found in, and other facts. Some of the species displayed in this exhibit are the home’s hinge-back tortoise, yellow headed day gecko, Chinese crocodile lizard, the painted terrapin, mangrove snake, and more. There were skeleton and picture displays in this exhibit. One of the skeleton displays compared reptiles to human skeletons. I would say this hall is aimed at a more elementary type level. The reason for this is it is very visual and is all about seeing the cool interesting reptiles and not pushing too much on the information other than the plaques. For this reason, kids are more interested in this exhibit and enjoy it more.
The Zoo is a very important place for learning about zoological and ecological issues. One example of the zoo helping the public understand more about ecosystems was the virtual zoo trip of the safari where it would take you around the safari virtually and teach you about the ecosystem and environment. Another example of the zoo helping the public learn more is through tour guides through specific parts of the zoo that can share more information about areas and animals of the world that the plaques don't share.
Zoo's have developed a lot in the last decade where they have started to make the animals more comfortable in their environment and give them things to make them happier and more content in captivity. For example in the sea/river otter exhibit they provided many climbing logs for it to climb up on and jump off, and they also provided a floating tube for it to jump through in the water. Similarly, in the orangutan exhibit they for one had company from other orangutans, and they were also given clothes, toys, and climbing ropes to play with.

Standing Outside the National Zoo.