In FY25, the Academy incurred a cash deficit of $7.3M. For the current fiscal year, the cash deficit is projected to exceed $8.0M. This is due in large part to the costs of maintaining our buildings ...

The California Biodiversity Data Exchange is a groundbreaking collaboration between Cal Academy, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and iNaturalist that transforms community ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (January 7, 2026) — Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences described 72 new animal, plant, and fungi species in 2025, enriching scientists’ understanding of Earth’s ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (December 2, 2025) — It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Claude, our beloved albino alligator, has passed away at the age of 30. Claude was an iconic California ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (May 5, 2025) — The 10th annual City Nature Challenge global bioblitz has concluded, yielding more than 3.3 million wildlife observations for another record-breaking year. Over the ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (February 20, 2025) — This spring, walk among prehistoric giants as 13 life-size animatronic dinosaurs take over both of the California Academy of Sciences’ outdoor gardens in our ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (February 18, 2025) — Academy researchers and partners made the first discovery of both a new genus and species of plant in a U.S. national park in nearly 50 years. The ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (December 19, 2024) — Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences described 138 new animal, plant, and fungi species in 2024, enriching our understanding of Earth’s ...

“The Forest Of The Monarchs,” a photo of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Michoacán, Mexico, taken by National Geographic Explorer Jaime Rojo won the 2024 BigPicture Grand Prize.

Don’t tell Claude, but he’s not the only long-bodied, sharp-toothed, extremely chill species in Steinhart Aquarium. Lurking in the shadows across from the Swamp exhibit is a misunderstood fish that ...

Well before Californians became accustomed to massive, destructive wildfires, Indigenous peoples across the West Coast lit low-intensity fires throughout forestlands and brush. Called cultural burning ...

These jewel-toned lizards may not leap, but they certainly know how to lounge. Draco and Jade, brother and sister, joined the Amazon Flooded Forest exhibit in November 2023 and peacefully coexist with ...