Rusty the red panda: The Edward Snowden of zoo animals?
| Washington
First Ed Snowden, then Rusty the red panda. They were both on the lam Monday, and like everything else connected to Washington, there was a political angle.
At the National Zoo, Rusty the red panda 鈥� not to be confused with his more famous zoo-mates, the giant pandas 鈥� was last seen at 6 p.m. Sunday. By Monday morning, the zoo had put out an all-points bulletin, alerting the public and warning that if found, to exercise caution. If cornered, Rusty could bite.
At 2:24 p.m. Eastern time, the zoo tweeted out that Rusty had been captured safe and sound, put in a crate and was heading back to the zoo. Turns out he had made it , in the nearby neighborhood of Adams Morgan, . 聽
It鈥檚 not Hong Kong or Russia, but for a little red panda to escape all the zoo鈥檚 security measures, including his enclosure鈥檚 mildly electrified 鈥渉ot wires,鈥� is a pretty good trick.
Mr. Snowden, the former government contractor charged with leaking top secret national security information, is still at large, presumably somewhere in Russia, after boarding a flight Sunday from Hong Kong to Moscow. He had been booked onto a flight to Cuba on Monday, but was a no-show.
And for a few hours Monday, Snowden was the perfect foil for Rusty the red panda. In a flash, Rusty became the second most famous fugitive on the planet.
鈥淪nowden isn鈥檛 the only one on the run,鈥� tweeted Mary Bruce, ABC News White House producer.
鈥淲hat does @RustyRedPanda know, and when did he know it?鈥� tweeted David Clinch, executive editor at Storyful, suggesting maybe Rusty was up to no good. 聽
In another tweet, Mr. Clinch fueled the Rusty-as-Snowden meme: 鈥淗as anyone photo-shopped picture @RustyRedPanda into 17a on Aeroflot flight yet?鈥� 鈥� referencing the seat that was reserved for Snowden on the Moscow-Havana flight.
Predictably, famous zoo-lover Newt Gingrich : 鈥淚n response to red panda charges, I have an alibi,鈥� the former House speaker and presidential candidate tweeted. 鈥淐allista and I were feeding our pet elephant all evening (just a joke) help find panda.鈥�
And like all good Washington stories, Rusty made the White House鈥檚 daily briefing.
鈥淎nything on the red panda?鈥� a reporter asked Jay Carney in the final question of the day, sparking laughter.
Even though Rusty has been found, we will probably never know the full story 鈥� like how he got out and what route he took to get to 20th and Biltmore. And why? Why did he bolt? Rusty came to the National Zoo only in late April from a zoo in Lincoln, Neb. The zoo here plans to breed him with its female red panda, Shama, according to the Post.
Maybe it wasn鈥檛 working out between the two. Just like Snowden鈥檚 girlfriend, who got left behind when he fled to Hong Kong.
The , posted at 3:24 p.m., reports that Rusty is at the zoo鈥檚 vet hospital getting checked out.
As for Snowden, stay tuned.聽
