This afternoon, a message came over Crestwood list serve alerting us to a surprising escape. Rusty, a year old red Panda who just moved here from a zoo in Nebraska, was let out or got out of his little habitat
When zookeepers stopped by with his breakfast, they discovered he was gone. Since red pandas are known to hang out on high tree limbs when the weather is warm,they initiated an unsuccessful search of the trees along the Asia Trail.
So the zoo issued an APB to the nearby neighborhoods, including Crestwood, just in case he made a major escape.
Then, early this afternoon, they found the little fellow in Adams Morgan on 20th Street. A neighbor who had actually seen the red pandas at the zoo recognized him, and before long, he was in custody.
He's spending the night resting while the zoo vets make sure he wasn't injured in any way while on the lam.
And dang! Look at that sweet face! He's cuter than a Labradoodle puppy!
RUSTY UPDATE: Rusty has been on a time out since his return to the National Zoo, and zookeepers are busy trimming the tree branches in his habitat so he won't be able to escape a second time. Word is out that he will get to return to his own space in time for the surge of visitors expected on the 4th of July holiday. I'll bet he is the most popular zoo critter this nest week.
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