Fresh off his caper on the streets of Northwest Washington, Rusty the red panda is showing signs of good health, officials at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo said Tuesday morning.
“Rusty is sleeping well, eating well, hydrating well and — this is probably too much information — he’s pooping well,” zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson reported cheerily. “I spoke to the vet this morning and she said Rusty is ‘bright and alert.’”
Rusty, one of two red pandas at the National Zoo, disappeared from his enclosure sometime between 6 p.m. Sunday and 7:30 a.m. Monday. By 8 a.m., alarms had been sounded and a city-wide panda hunt began.
Finally, around lunchtime Monday, a woman spotted Rusty on the run in Adams Morgan. She tweeted some photos and called the zoo, which sent animal curators to scour the area. Rusty was captured shortly after 2 p.m. and taken to the zoo’s animal hospital where he could be examined.
“One of our concerns was, did he eat anything funky?” Baker-Masson said. A hearty appetite and regular bowel movements indicate that Rusty didn’t ingest anything toxic. “We care a lot about poop around here, with good reason,” Baker-Masson said with a chuckle.
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