What happens when an animal at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. dies? For me, this is a great

opportunity to just dig in. It's the last chance we have to get the most information out of these

animals about their health status so that we can improve what we're doing, but also affect animals

for conservation purposes.

It's Thursday, April 11th, and you're listening to Science Friday.

I'm SciFri producer Rasha Aridi.

When a critter meets its end at the National Zoo, it gets an animal autopsy,

where one of the zoo's veterinary pathologists will take a very close look at it.

They'll poke and prod and search for clues about the animal's health.

What they do, or don't find, can be used to improve the care of living animals, both in the zoo

and in the wild.

Live from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., here's Iroflato.

Here to take us on a CSI-style investigation

is Callie Holder, veterinary pathologist,

at Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute here in D.C.

Welcome to Science Friday.

Thank you, Ira.

It's great to be here.

Our theme today is national treasures.

Why are dead animals a national treasure?

Besides being animals, which are awesome, I love the mystery, the puzzle of dead animals.

I also do biopsies, so I do pieces of live things and whole dead things, but no whole live things.

...