On this handout supplied by the Smithsonian Nationwide Zoo, a male pink panda named Rusty is seen in his exhibit within the Smithsonian Nationwide Zoo on June 18, 2013 in Washington, DC. Rusty went lacking on June 23, 2013 from the zoo however was discovered within the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington the next day. (Picture by Abby Wooden/Smithsonian Nationwide Zoo by way of Getty Pictures)
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On this handout supplied by the Smithsonian Nationwide Zoo, a male pink panda named Rusty is seen in his exhibit within the Smithsonian Nationwide Zoo on June 18, 2013 in Washington, DC. Rusty went lacking on June 23, 2013 from the zoo however was discovered within the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington the next day. (Picture by Abby Wooden/Smithsonian Nationwide Zoo by way of Getty Pictures)
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Some who have been in Washington, D.C., in 2013 are mourning the lack of Rusty the pink panda, who captivated the town when he escaped from the Smithsonian’s Nationwide Zoo nearly a decade in the past. He was 10 years outdated.
He died on Oct. 14. Pueblo Zoo, the place he was dwelling, at the moment doesn’t know the reason for dying, Sandy Morrison, advertising and communications supervisor at Pueblo Zoo, instructed NPR in an e-mail.
Rusty was present in Adams Morgan, which borders the park lands across the zoo.
Bethany Morlind
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Bethany Morlind
Rusty was present in Adams Morgan, which borders the park lands across the zoo.
Bethany Morlind
The panda made headlines when he was simply 11 months outdated, in June of 2013. Officers stated they suppose rainfall weighed down some branches in his exhibit, which allowed him to drop to the opposite aspect of the enclosure. He was later noticed in D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood by a resident.
“I used to be strolling residence from lunch with my household when Rusty sauntered out from some bushes onto the sidewalk forward of us,” performing artist Ashley Wagner defined in an e-mail to NPR. “He trotted alongside for a few blocks earlier than taking refuge in a fenced-in yard.”
Wagner was in a position to take some pictures of him, and stated Twitter appeared just like the quickest strategy to alert the zoo to Rusty’s location. The tweet allowed the zoo to search out him and return him to his residence.
“In a time of intense headlines (and generally overwhelming connection to know-how), I believe Rusty’s story introduced a way of hope, whimsy, and journey to all of our lives – and it highlighted the very best of what social media can obtain,” Wagner stated.
Rusty was “a beautiful ambassador for the species and was a enjoyable, unbiased panda,” Sandy Morrison of Pueblo Zoo instructed NPR.
Bethany Morlind
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Bethany Morlind
Rusty was “a beautiful ambassador for the species and was a enjoyable, unbiased panda,” Sandy Morrison of Pueblo Zoo instructed NPR.
Bethany Morlind
In 2019, he was transferred from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute — the place he and one other pink panda had been relocated for reproductive functions — to Colorado’s Pueblo Zoo. They efficiently mated whereas there.
The dual cubs, a feminine named Momo and a male named Mogwai, have been born in Aug. 2021. They’re nonetheless at Pueblo Zoo, however their mom, Priya, now lives on the Utah Hogle Zoo.
“He was a beautiful ambassador for the species and was a enjoyable, unbiased panda who shaped robust bonds with our Keepers. He might be sorely missed,” Morrison wrote.
The Nationwide Zoo has not made a public remark.
