There seem to be an exceeding amount of zoo breakouts recently. While the Dallas Zoo seems to have external culprits, San Diego Zoo has a criminal mastermind all their own. A red panda by the name of Adira, specifically. The intrepid little panda managed to slip her enclosure by scaling a nearby tree.
The incident occurred January 29th in San Diego Zoo’s Panda Canyon. Zoo patron Allison Fortson managed to capture footage of the rust-colored Houdini high up in a tree near the Skyfari Aerial Tram system. Upon realizing her sneaky escape, the Zoo cordoned off the areas surrounding the tree, and coaxed Adira back to her enclosure.
The enterprising female was recently introduced to male red panda Lucas as part of a breeding program. And while they’ve taken time getting used to one another, they seem to be getting along well. Who knows, maybe Adira was hoping to impress Lucas with her climbing skills. Or maybe she needed five minutes’ peace. Sometimes a girl just needs her space. January is their mating season after all. Maybe Lucas was movin’ a little too fast.
Red Pandas are natives of the Himalayas and sadly endangered, hence zoo-run breeding programs. They’re expert climbers with helpful prehensile tails, and are more closely related to a raccoon or a weasel than China’s black and white panda. And at about two feet long, they’re adorably travel size. Hopefully Adira won’t try any more escape attempts, but as far as cute news goes, this is a good one.
