WASHINGTON – A Twitter photo and phone tip from a resident helped animal keepers track down a red panda in a Washington neighborhood Monday after it disappeared from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

The male named Rusty was captured in a tree near a home in the Adams Morgan neighborhood Monday afternoon, said National Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson. It had traveled across the leafy Rock Creek Park, perhaps crossing a road or under a creek bridge to reach a residential area nearly ¾ of a mile from the zoo.

Additional Photos

A photo provided by the Smithsonian’s National Zoo shows a red panda that disappeared from its enclosure at the zoo in Washington. The Associated Press

Senior curator Brandie Smith said animal keepers surrounded the area where he was found and called Rusty’s name to calm him before capturing him in a net.

“We just had to approach him carefully,” she said. “We are surprised by the distance he was able to cover.”

The animal was taken to the zoo’s animal hospital for a checkup and will remain there for several days.

How Rusty escaped is still a mystery, although. Zoo officials began reviewing security footage Monday morning to see if there is any evidence of how he escaped or whether he may have been taken by a human and then set loose. No security cameras are pointed directly at the red panda exhibit, though, and the zoo plans to add more cameras.

Curators have cut back several long tree limbs that may have aided the skilled climber with the escape.

“There is no obvious point that Rusty could have gotten out of the enclosure,” Smith said, adding that it had held red pandas for years. “We all know that young males like to test boundaries.”

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