Red Panda Missing from Columbus Zoo

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. "Sherman, set the WABAC Machine on 2013."

JUN 24, 2013, 2:11 PM

Missing Red Panda Recovered by National Zoo After Being Spotted in Adams Morgan
Sarah Anne Hughes

This post has been updated.

Rusty, the National Zoo’s new red panda who took a leave of absence from the park sometime after 6 p.m. last evening, was spotted in Adams Morgan this afternoon. Less than an hour later, he was back in the custody of the National Zoo.

Actress Ashley Foughty photographed the little guy running near 20th and Biltmore Streets NW in Adams Morgan around 1:30 p.m. Foughty told the City Paper she called in the sighting to the National Zoo. She also reported to the City Paper that Rusty looked “normal,” “healthy” and “scared.”

Red panda in our neighborhood! 20th NW and Biltmore. Please come save him!
@nationalzoo1

Link to tweet

About an hour later, City Paper intern Dan Singer and WAMU reporter Patrick Madden were on the scene as zoo workers used nets to recover Rusty from a tree near a home on the 1900 block of Biltmore NW.

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JAN 30, 2014, 10:24 AM

Rusty The Red Panda Has Left The National Zoo
Sarah Anne Hughes



It's all Bao Bao's fault!

Washington’s favorite escape artist, Rusty the red panda, has been moved from the National Zoo to the Conservation Biology Institute in Virginia. And it’s all Bao Bao’s fault! (Maybe.)

The move has nothing to do with Rusty’s great escape from his exhibit last year. Instead, he and female red panda Shama have been sent to Virginia for breeding. From the Zoo:

Shama has bred in the exhibit at the Zoo before, but it’s possible the increased visitor traffic for giant panda Bao Bao could have compromised successful breeding for this pair. Out at SCBI, Rusty and Shama will get a little extra peace and quiet. Animal keepers report that Rusty and Shama are adjusting well to their new surroundings. Rusty immediately began to explore his new enclosure before munching down some bamboo grown onsite at SCBI.

Undoubtedly, you remember last June when Rusty left his enclosure, likely by climbing over rain-logged trees, and became a fugitive. Following his capture, the National Zoo put Rusty on a 24/7 watch.

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