Have you seen Rusty? - A male Red Panda has turned up missing at the Smithsonian National Zoo -
A male red panda has turned up missing at the Smithsonian National Zoo, a spokeswoman said Monday, and zoo officials have been combing the grounds searching for him.
Rusty, who is less than a year old and is about the size of a raccoon, was not seen in his enclosure at 7:30 a.m. Monday, and the zoo sounded a “Code Green” alert for an escaped animal at 8 a.m.
The zoo gates were closed temporarily as the search began, but were reopened at 9:45 a.m., after the animal wasn’t found, said spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson.
“We have been searching all morning,” she said. “It is most likely that he has not really left the vicinity. He would have to have some very strong motivation to leave the area.”
Red panda’s have thick reddish fur, long tails ringed with white circles, and very long whiskers. They like to climb trees. Like their huge cousins, the Giant Pandas, they are native to China.
The zoo’s giant pandas are safe and “inside slumbering,” Baker-Masson said.
Rusty is relatively new to the zoo. He arrived from a zoo in Lincoln, Neb., in late April and has been on exhibit about three weeks. The zoo also has a female Red Panda, Shama, and planned to breed the two.
“This animal is not dangerous to any human,” Baker-Masson said. “He is vaccinated.” He was last seen Sunday night at 6.
She said Rusty, who is said to be friendly and mild-mannered, might have managed to get out of his enclosure and is just hiding somewhere on the zoo grounds.
She said he might have escaped and is sick or has died somewhere on the grounds. There is also the possibility that he was stolen. “We have to think of everything,” she said.
Zoo curators continue to search the facility for him, using binoculars.
Baker-Masson said the enclosure’s “hot wires,” which deliver a small shock to prevent escapes, were on. She said curators noted that Rusty has not seemed interested in food the last few days.
The zoo asked that if visitors spot Rusty they should not approach him, but tell an official or call the zoo at 202-633-4888.
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