NPR News

Rusty the red panda, who briefly ran free in D.C. in 2013, has unexpectedly died

By Halisia Hubbard

Published October 20, 2022 at 8:57 PM AKDT

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)

Some who were in Washington, D.C., in 2013 are mourning the loss of Rusty the red panda, who captivated the city when he escaped from the Smithsonian's National Zoo almost a decade ago. He was 10 years old.

He died on Oct. 14. Pueblo Zoo, where he was living, currently does not know the cause of death, Sandy Morrison, marketing and communications manager at Pueblo Zoo, told NPR in an email.

The pandamade headlines when he was just 11 months old, in June of 2013. Officials said they think rainfall weighed down some branches in his exhibit, which allowed him to drop to the other side of the enclosure. He was later spotted in D.C.'s Adams Morgan neighborhood by a resident.

"I was walking home from lunch with my family when Rusty sauntered out from some bushes onto the sidewalk ahead of us," performing artist Ashley Wagner explained in an email to NPR. "He trotted along for a couple of blocks before taking refuge in a fenced-in yard."

Red panda in our neighborhood! 20th NW and Biltmore. Please come save him! @nationalzoo1 pic.twitter.com/llQF7P9QH5
— Ashley Wagner (@AshleyWagARTS) June 24, 2013

Wagner was able to take some photos of him, and said Twitter seemed like the fastest way to alert the zoo to Rusty's location. The tweetallowed the zoo to find him and return him to his home.

"In a time of intense headlines (and sometimes overwhelming connection to technology), I think Rusty's story brought a sense of hope, whimsy, and adventure to all of our lives – and it highlighted the best of what social media can achieve," Wagner said.

Rusty was "a wonderful ambassador for the species and was a fun, independent panda," Sandy Morrison of Pueblo Zoo told NPR.

In 2019, he was transferred from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute — where he and another red panda had been relocated for reproductive purposes — to Colorado's Pueblo Zoo. They successfully mated while there.

The twin cubs, a female named Momo and a male named Mogwai, were born in Aug. 2021. They're still at Pueblo Zoo, but their mother, Priya, now lives at the Utah Hogle Zoo.

"He was a wonderful ambassador for the species and was a fun, independent panda who formed strong bonds with our Keepers. He will be sorely missed," Morrison wrote.

The National Zoo has not made a public comment.