For my excursion this spring I decided to go to the Smithsonian National Zoo on April 21, 2024. While there, I specifically visited the Reptile Discovery Center and the Small Mammal House. In both the Center and House each animal had the common name of their species, the scientific name, an adaptation, their range of habitat, their diet, and an image of what they look like. A few had the animal labeled as venomous, as endangered, images of the two different sex, and their habitat loss.

The Reptile Center housed an African Plated Lizard, an Emerald Tree Monitor, a Komodo Dragon that was so massive that it could have been mistaken as an alligator, and a Mangrove Snake. Beyond the text panel displays, there was a skull of a Gila Monster stating that its strength allows it to use a “vise-like” grip. There was another skull of a Green Kuana Skull to illustrate their large eyes that are needed to find leaves and avoid predators. Another skull based display showed that a human could swallow a loaf of bread if their jaw was proportional to a snake. I would say that this hall is directed toward late elementary school or middle school. The text panels did not include language that was too complicated and kept explanations to a few sentences. Concerning the other displays, they were very eye-catching and would draw a younger audience in. While I found the information interesting, others in the hall only looked at the plaques quickly to figure out what animal was on display.

The Small Mammal House was home to some of my favorite animals in the Zoo. This included a Fennec Fox, a Chinchilla, a Sand Cat, and Meerkats. Other displays were skull based, limb based, and tail based. Each section consisted of four banners with words in all capital letters and an exclamation point, an x-ray of the mentioned part, an illustration of the animal, and a brief description of the parts purpose. This was very informative about certain small mammals adaptations and drew me in as I walked by. I would say the target education level for this house is also late elementary school or middle school, since there was a fair amount of reading but was not difficult to comprehend. Once again others in the house only looked at the plaques to figure out what animal was on display.

Throughout the exhibits there are many other ways the Zoo aids in the public’s understanding of animals and ecosystems beyond plaques. One way they accomplish this is through interactive displays such as the elephant weigh stations that challenge visitors to combine their weight to that of an elephant. Behind it was a pop out picture of an elephant which described body parts such as the digestive system. Other ways they teach the public is through eye grabbing displays. One of these includes a display case of brains in which you could compare the size and shapes of mammal brains. The purpose of this was to draw passerbyers into learning about memory and decision making of these animals.

It is important to recognize that these are wild animals on display and that they do not have the same quality of life as they would in their natural habitat. While some animals had added comforts, the displays housing the lions and cheetah were pretty empty and lacked stimulation. Although this is not the case for many other animals. The ape house had balls, blankets, trees, hanging clothes, and hammocks to provide comfort and stimulation in their confined environment. Another exhibit that was improved upon was the mole-rats. They had a series of tubes and compartments in which they could roam that included heated and humidifiers. This is to simulate their natural habitat of underground burrows in eastern Africa, while allowing the staff access for feeding and care. In Amazonia there was a large rainforest enclosure that you could enter and see different species of birds flying around the trees. Overall, I think the zoo did very well at making the smaller animal exhibits stimulating and comfortable, while the larger animal exhibits seemed to lack in these areas.