National Zoo

Even if the Orioles fail to catch the Bronx Bombers, the Baltimore Zoo has topped its venerable Bronx counterpart in one category: children's zoos.That's according to Allen Nyhuis, author of "The Zoo Book: A Guide to America's Best," which was released earlier this year by Carousel Press. Mr. Nyhuis will be at the Baltimore Zoo today to sign copies of his book and answer questions.In the 277-page book ($14.95), Mr. Nyhuis gives mostly capsule reviews of U.S. zoos along with some foreign zoos that he completed over a 3 1/2 -year period.

WASHINGTON - For more than 150 years, the Smithsonian Institution has been one of the world's great packrats, collecting items from the mundane to the magnificent. Now the Smithsonian is cleaning out the nation's attic.Like a dowager showering treasurers on far-flung relatives, the museum complex is ready to open its storage vaults to worthy recipients. Cities across the country are lining up for a chance to borrow some of the 139 million objects usually kept from public view.In Arlington, Texas, community leaders hope to open an Origins of the Southwest museum featuring items from the Smithsonian's extensive collection Indian artifacts.

A commotion occurred about noon yesterday at the Great Ape House at the National Zoo. A collective shriek arose. A stroller jam ensued. Cameras clicked and whirred. Mandara, one of the female gorillas, had just appeared, cradling the zoo's latest addition. Mandara, 26, had given birth to an infant, sex and name undetermined, about 1:45 p.m. Saturday, without fanfare or any evident histrionics on the other side of a large plate glass window in full view of staff employees and a few lucky onlookers.

The name of the Rev. Arthur Lillicropp, director of pastoral counseling services at Howard County General Hospital, was misspelled in yesterday's editions of The Sun.WASHINGTON -- It was near the hippopotamus pool that Terrie Sue McCulley let anyone know that her visit to the National Zoo was registering. She squeezed the Rev. Arthur Lilliprop's hand and snickered. Just a little."She's doing that, Lu," Rev. Lilliprop, director of pastoral counseling services at Howard County General Hospital, called to Ms. McCulley's mother.

WASHINGTON - The National Zoo, beset by criticism over animal deaths, had its accreditation called into question last week after inspectors reported problems with its buildings, leadership, staff morale and funding. The 114-year-old zoo's application to renew its accreditation has been tabled until it makes the physical improvements and other changes necessary to win the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's unqualified backing. Every five years, the association inspects major U.S. zoos, including the Central Park and Bronx zoos in New York, and zoos and animal parks in most sections of the country.

WASHINGTON -- Millions of dollars invested. Teams of elite scientists. An international trade agreement. Media coverage that money couldn't buy. The enterprise is pandas, giant pandas, and now, giant panda sex. The National Zoo's female panda is 3 1/2 , nearing what some believe to be reproductive age. So talk about a new panda generation has begun, although it is by no means certain that the pandas are listening. The pandas, Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) and Tian Tian (tee-YEN), are huge in Washington.

WASHINGTON -- Police arrested a 16-year-old district high school student yesterday and charged him with carrying out the multiple shooting at the National Zoo, seizing what they called a lone suspect one day after gunfire turned the tourist attraction into a horrifying crime scene. As the arrest took place, one of the victims, an 11-year-old boy who was shot in the back of the head, remained in critical condition. The boy was one of seven children who were wounded by gunfire after a fight broke out between two bands of teen-agers at the zoo's annual African-American family celebration.

WASHINGTON - The bald eagle cage at the National Zoo was quiet yesterday. A stray piece of crime-scene tape in the cage and an open door were the only signs of something amiss. But the search was on for the killer in the July 4 death of Captain, one of the zoo's three bald eagles. A bobcat is the prime suspect, according to General Curator Bill Xanten. Local animal experts sniffed at his theory, however. They say no bobcats have been reported anywhere near the zoo, tucked into the capital's wooded Rock Creek Park about 2 miles north of the White House, since area animal surveys began in 1976.

Police arrested a 16-year-old district high school student yesterday and charged him with carrying out the shooting at the National Zoo, seizing what they call their only suspect one day after gunfire turned the national tourist attraction into a horrifying crime scene. As the arrest took place, one of the victims, an 11-year-old boy who was shot in the back of the head, remained in critical condition. The boy was one of seven children who were wounded by gunfire after a fight broke out between two bands of teen-agers at the zoo's annual African-American family celebration.