Rusty, the red panda who once escaped from the National Zoo, dies

PUEBLO, Colo. — A red panda who gained national fame after briefly escaping from Washington, D.C.’s National Zoo has died at the age of 10.

>> Read more trending news

Rusty moved to Colorado in the years following his escape, and the Pueblo Zoo announced his passing in a Facebook post. The zoo said that Rusty passed unexpectedly, and described him as “a curious but independent panda, often found stretched out over a log under the misters or munching on bamboo.”

Rusty the red panda dies Rusty was 10 years old and living at the Pueblo Zoo in Colorado. (Bethany Morlind)

“I feel very lucky to have earned his trust and been able to work closely with him over the past years. He was a great ambassador for his species and will be missed by staff and guests alike,” said Bethany, an area supervisor for the zoo.

Rusty was only 11 months old in 2013 when he managed to escape from his enclosure at Washington D.C.’s National Zoo, and was later spotted walking through the city’s Adams Morgan neighborhood, NPR reported. Zoo officials were able to track down the curious animal and return him to his enclosure.

Rusty escaped from The National Zoo in 2013 File photo: In this handout provided by the Smithsonian National Zoo, a male red panda named Rusty is seen in his exhibit in the Smithsonian National Zoo on June 18, 2013 in Washington, DC. Rusty went missing on June 23, 2013 from the zoo but was found in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington the following day. (Photo by Abby Wood/Smithsonian National Zoo via Getty Images) (Handout/Getty Images)

Rusty moved to the Pueblo Zoo in 2019, where he became a father to twins Mogwai and Momo in August 2021, WRC reported.

Seeing red: Michigan zoo welcomes red panda cub

The move didn’t make Rusty any less curious, with zoo officials describing him as charismatic.

“If he wasn’t sleeping, you’d find him running around his enclosure,” Sandy Morrison, a spokeswoman for the Pueblo Zoo, told The Washington Post. “Rusty had a fun, quirky and outgoing personality. He loved to sit on a log and chomp on his bamboo. If he didn’t feel like dealing with people, he would go to a corner and wrap his tail around his face.”