#Weapons Image# In the early years, when the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., lacked the funds to expand its collection, it asked the Navy to bring back animals from "remote corners" of the world. The U.S. Navy rounds up penguins in Antarctica, monkeys in Myanmar, and birds in the Solomon Islands. During World War II, dozens of Marines were bitten by snakes while fighting in the Pacific, while the U.S. National Zoo's collection of reptiles grew, and rare Ryukyu chi-toothed snakes and feathered vipers were sent back for study. Eight penguins bound for the National Zoo sneaked out of boxes after arriving at the Washington Navy Yard, swam precariously across the Potomac River into Virginia, and a woman was surprised to tell the media that a strange bird had been spotted in her yard.
