WASHINGTON — There’s more going on at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo than giant pandas and lions. WTOP visited the zoo to give you a behind-the-scenes look at creatures off the beaten path.

Many of the animals born and bred at the zoo are genetically valuable for the preservation of their species. “Every species is important. As we lose more species, it’s got a cascading effect,” said biologist Matt Evans, assistant curator of reptiles and amphibians at National Zoo’s Reptile Discovery Center. “It affects how the ecosystem works.”

The zoo is working to address numerous global conservation challenges. There’s a fungus-borne illness, for example, called amphibian chytrid that has devastated nearly 100 frog species worldwide. “We are doing a lot of research with the fungus, trying to figure out how frogs might be able to build up an immune response and resistance to it,” Evans said.

Worldwide, one-third to one-half of all amphibian species are threatened with extinction.