The rather implausibly exciting lives of D.C.’s red pandas are starting a new chapter — and this one will be in D.C.
The National Zoo announced that, after a two-year hiatus, two new red pandas have moved to its main zoo in Woodley Park.
Red pandas made headlines in 2013 after one named Rusty captivated the Twittersphere when he escaped from the National Zoo. The media covered the story intensely, police got involved and it seemed the whole city was searching for the renegade.
Hours later, he was found in Adams Morgan and returned to the zoo.
But Rusty didn’t stay at the zoo for long, and in January 2014 he was transferred to the Smithsonian’s Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va., so he could mate with a fellow local red panda, Shama, in private. Shama gave birth to three cubs, but she died shortly after. Since 2014, there have been no red pandas at the National Zoo.
The two new red panda residents are Tusa, a 1-year-old male, and Asa, a 1-year-old female. Tusa came from a zoo in Illinois and Asa was born at the Smithsonian facility in Virginia where Rusty was transferred.
Visitors can see them in the Small Mammal House before they move to the red panda exhibit on the Asia Trail when upgrades are complete in the spring.
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