Red Panda Recovering From Escape Attempt Foiled By Twitter [Video]
Red panda Rusty’s great escape from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington D.C. on Monday is truly a tale for our times. We’ll never know for sure exactly when the mischievous red panda slipped his enclosure sometime between 6 PM on Sunday evening and 7:30 AM on Monday morning.
But, thanks to Twitter, we know exactly when he was found. Check out the selected tweets below that hit the highlights of how the wandering red panda was lost and then found by an alert local in the Adams Morgan neighborhood.
On Tuesday morning, The Washington Post quoted zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson, who was happy to give a statement on the condition of the runaway panda:
“Rusty is sleeping well, eating well, hydrating well and — this is probably too much information — he’s pooping well…I spoke to the vet this morning and she said Rusty is ‘bright and alert.'”
Baker-Masson went on to say that the zoo had been concerned that the red panda had eaten something he shouldn’t have while he was on the lam.
Apparently an analysis of the red panda’s poop revealed that he hadn’t.
Even though Rusty is well, he’s being kept in the zoo clinic pending an investigation of how he got out. It still isn’t clear how he escaped, and it’s possible that someone deliberately set the red panda free.
According to an earlier WaPo report on the missing panda, former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich tweeted that he had an alibi.
That’s a little weird, but OK.
Enjoy the Twitter timeline of the red panda escapade.
We are looking for a missing red panda, a male named Rusty. He was last seen at 6 p.m. last night. pic.twitter.com/JHVB79x8XY
— National Zoo (@NationalZoo) June 24, 2013
Red panda in our neighborhood! 20th NW and Biltmore. Please come save him! @nationalzoo1 pic.twitter.com/llQF7P9QH5
— Ashley Foughty (@AshleyFoughty) June 24, 2013
#Rusty #Redpanda scurries down 20th St. NW to retreat in the backyard of a roww house being renovated @NationalZoo pic.twitter.com/qddS2KatsA
— Ashley Foughty (@AshleyFoughty) June 24, 2013
Rusty has returned from his trip to Adams Morgan and is getting a checkup at our vet hospital. pic.twitter.com/V4B8pseVUc
— National Zoo (@NationalZoo) June 24, 2013
The Panda was caught because he kept circling around. Next time, don’t bother trying to find a parking space in Adams Morgan.
— David Freddoso (@freddoso) June 24, 2013
[red panda photo via Wikimedia Commons]