Missing red panda found safe after escaping Eureka zoo
Source: SF GATE
By Katie Dowd
After a few tense days on the lam, Masala the red panda has been safely located and returned to her home at a Eureka zoo.
Masala went missing on Thursday from Sequoia Park Zoo. The young red panda was very popular with zoo guests, but apparently fame wasn't enough. She wanted more. She wanted adventure.
Zoo officials believe she somehow scaled the fence of her enclosure and ended up in the forested area near the park. She was located by an alert citizen Saturday evening who saw Masala casually strolling down a residential street near the zoo, reported the Lost Coast News. Zoo officials were called and came to the rescue — but Masala wasn't ready to go home yet.
Lost Coast News reports it took almost two hours to get Masala into an animal carrier, and she was finally bribed out of a tree with treats.
FULL story and photo gallery at link. AP story here: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/0a7ab782570a4eb88f11e5f5003516fc/missing-red-panda-found-safe-after-escaping-california-zoo
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Missing-red-panda-found-safe-after-escaping-6650242.php
= new reply since forum marked as read
I hate zoos 
And what an adorable name. Masala! I love it. 
"... it took almost two hours to get Masala into an animal carrier, and she was finally bribed out of a tree with treats. " Are they sure she isn't part cat? 
Panda Rescue! Here’s Where Masala the Red Panda Was Found and How She Was Captured
Hank Sims / Today @ 8:25 a.m.
Photos and video: Loretta Hancock.
We don’t know what she did during her two days off the map in the wilds of Eureka, but we do know that by 9:20 p.m. Saturday Masala the red panda had emerged from the other side of Sequoia Park. She was cruising down the street near the corner of Hodgson and Q like a common raccoon, searching for God knows what — shelter, bamboo, some other creature comfort — and thinking thoughts that will forever be hidden to us.
At that moment, at that intersection, Eureka resident Loretta Hancock was headed toward the Fresh Freeze to grab some food when she noticed a bustling red something hanging out near a fire hydrant. She stopped in the middle of the street and put her hazards on. She stared at Masala, and Masala stared at her. Then she called 911.
“Last night, with all the efforts of people searching and everything, I just happened upon her,” Hancock — a self-described animal lover — mused to the Outpost this morning, sounding a bit like someone who had just won the lottery.
While she waited for zoo personnel to arrive, Hancock kept her eyes on Masala, and the panda seemed to know that the jig was up. She climbed up and down a fence, and attempted to scale a porch. Hancock made kissy noises at her, noises you might made to a dog to get its attention or calm it down. Finally Masala found a tree and scaled it, and there it remained until everyone arrived.
More:
http://lostcoastoutpost.com/2015/nov/22/panda-rescue-heres-where-masala-red-panda-was-foun/
Hooray for Loretta Hancock, and the other admirable gentle folk. Wonderful action. Glad someone didn't shoot and eat her. 
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