ZOO KEEPERS FROM the National Zoo in Washington have found their missing red panda in a nearby neighborhood.
Rusty, who was last seen on Sunday evening in the Smithsonian-run zoological park, was found chilling out in a bush in the nearby Adams Morgan neighborhood on Monday morning.
Residents in the surrounding areas had been on the look-out for Rusty as photos were posted on the zoo’s social media pages.
The zoo were concerned that he would bite someone if cornered or scared.
National Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson said he has being taken to the zoo’s animal hospital for a check-up.
Red pandas are highly territorial, so zoo officials did not believe he would have traveled far. Rusty, it seems, wanted to explore his new city.
Not to be confused with the National Zoo’s giant panda bears from China, red pandas are small tree-dwelling mammals native to the Himalayas and southwestern China. Their name is derived from their reddish-brown fur and they look like large cats pr racoons.
Additional reporting by AFP
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