Red Panda Found After 3 Days Gallivanting Outside California Zoo, Extinction Feared


Masala the Red Panda, one of about 10,000 left in the world, was found near a street corner by a motorist on Saturday night, November 21, half a mile from its home at the Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka, California. On the lam for three days, the young female panda described as fluffy and raccoon-like and full-grown at a year and a half, was believed to have spent her time in the urban forest by the zoo.

According to Lost Coast Outpost, at around 9:20 p.m. on Saturday, Eureka resident Loretta Hancock was driving toward Fresh Freeze for some old-fashioned good eats when a red furry object near a fire hydrant caught her eye. She reportedly stopped in the middle of the street, put her hazard lights on, and found herself in a staring contest with Masala before calling 911.

Hancock told Lost Coast Outpost that she kept Masala in her sights while waiting for zoo reinforcements to arrive. Meanwhile, the red panda found a fence to scale, a porch to try out, and a 10-foot tree to climb.

After zoo manager Gretchen Ziegler arrived with her crew and found Masala up in a tree, it took another two hours to get the creature into an animal carrier. The tranquilizer dart option was set aside in favor of luring the panda down with bamboo goodies. The ruse seemed to work until the red panda found the opportunity to bolt once on the ground. Barriers set up around the standoff area stopped it long enough for a thrown blanket to complete the capture.

https://www.facebook.com/SequoiaParkZoo/photos/a.81924071586.94237.35547291586/10153114094416587/?type=3&theater

Lost Coast Outpost noted Hancock’s relief that the red panda found her and vice versa.

“Last night, with all the efforts of people searching and everything, I just happened upon her. I’m happy she’s home.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, Masala and her twin sister, Cini, were born in the Sequoia Park Zoo on July 9, 2014 and their mother, Stella Luna, and father, Sumo, introduced to each other on Valentine’s Day of 2013. Before the red panda twins arrived, an older sibling found its way into the world four months after the initial mating and was transferred to Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines.

National Geographic describes the red panda as endangered by deforestation. Its natural habitat being diminished by logging concessions and farmers clearing land, the red panda shares its remaining high-altitude forest space with its black-and-white giant panda cousin.

Being the size of a house cat and with a bushy ringed tail doubling as a body wrap on cold days, the red panda thrives in the highlands of Nepal, northern Myanmar and central China. A solitary creature, the red panda is found to be somewhat like the giant panda and the raccoon.

Red panda trivia as found in The Dodo, offers some fun information about red pandas.

“The Chinese name for the red panda is ‘hunho,’ meaning, ‘firefox.’ Scientists have found its numbers depleted by as much as 40 percent over the last 50 years, with some 10,000 adults left from habitat loss. The red panda is a solitary creature rather than a pack animal, the males and females only coming together to breed, to be found roaming alone otherwise.

“The red panda with its false thumb has been found to travel on branches easily. The red panda eats insects, fruit, bird eggs and small lizards, but collectively with its mates, consumes some 200,000 bamboo leaves everyday. Fur on the red panda’s paws has been found ideal for wet and slippery surfaces like branches, rocks and ice. The red panda has been found to rear up on its hindquarters and claw at attackers. The red panda does not fit into one biological classification, though it is found to resemble foxes, raccoons, and bears; and though it shares a common ancestor with the giant panda, the red panda has been found by scientists to be the older species.”

That the red panda was found safe by Hancock, is of immense relief to everyone aware of its near extinction.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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