Will the Sequester Stifle the Smithsonian National Zoo?

As March looms nearer, staff at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C. are nervous about the effect the upcoming federal sequester could have on their facilities--and the animals that inhabit them.

“Our collection is a living collection,” Craig Saffoe , curator of the zoo’s big cats, told the Washington Post. “They need to be cared for every day, no matter what is happening above our heads.”

The Smithsonian plans to weather a potential five percent budget cut mainly by freezing hiring, reducing training, and delaying new construction. Some zoo projects, such as the planned acquisition of cheetahs for their research facility in Front Royal, Virginia, may have to be reconsidered.

Photo by the USFWS