Smithsonian National Zoo

The second day of WYSE was spent at the Smithsonian National Zoo, and was devoted to the conservation of wildlife. After breakfast with some great new friends, we loaded the buses (all 284 of us) and headed to the zoo. For the first few hours we wandered the zoo checking out the animals including lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!) and MANY more. After lunch, we broke up into group sessions where we learned from different experts on a specific aspect of wildlife conservation. I attended Dr. Dan Moore's speech on endangered polar bears. Dr. Moore was very passionate and had many great ideas for conserving energy and helping the depleting polar bear population. We then had a panel discussion with several zoo experts including a curator, researcher, veterinarian, and keeper (all employees at the zoo). They were all very informative and had some great stories to share! We finished the day with a moonlight tour of the Washington Monument, WW2 Monument, and Lincoln Memorial.