Rusty, the beloved red panda who made headlines in 2013 for escaping the National Zoo, has died.

The Pueblo Zoo in Colorado announced his passing on Tuesday, describing him as a “curious but independent panda, often found stretched out over a log under the misters or munching on bamboo.” Rusty was about 10 years old — he was born in 2012, at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo in Nebraska.

Though the National Zoo did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DCist/WAMU, WTOP’s Megan Cloherty reports that the zoo has confirmed that the Pueblo Zoo’s Rusty is the very same one who lived in D.C. for a couple of years.

https://twitter.com/ClohertyWTOP/status/1583102540895641600

“I feel very lucky to have earned his trust and been able to work closely with him over the past years,” Bethany Morlind, an area supervisor at the Pueblo Zoo, said in a statement. “He was a great ambassador for his species and will be missed by staff and guests alike.”

It was at the Pueblo Zoo where Rusty became a dad to twins, Mogwai and Momo. But the National Zoo was where he rose to fame. In June 2013, he managed to climb his way out of what was previously considered an escape-proof exhibit at the zoo. He was discovered the day after in some bushes in Adams Morgan.

The National Zoo said that Rusty, an agile climber, likely got out by scaling up the water-logged limbs of the trees in his exhibit, then scrambling over the perimeter. Heavy rain on the day of his escape lowered the branches of the trees, making it easier for him to climb out and get a taste of D.C. life.

After he was found, Rusty was taken back to the National Zoo and put on a 24/7 watch. The next year, he was sent with a female mate, Shama, to the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Virginia, where the National Zoo said the couple would get “a little extra peace and quiet.” They soon became the parents of three cubs. Sadly, Shama died that same year.

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