Zoo's panda makes second escape

NORFOLK, Va., July 17 (UPI) -- The red panda at the Virginia Zoo has been put into quarantine until keepers figure out how she has escaped twice.

Yin made her second get-away Saturday at the zoo in Norfolk and was found 30 feet up a tree near the bison exhibit. Zoo Director Greg Bockheim ended up climbing the tree to get her.

"She's just testing every limit that might be in the exhibit," Bockheim told The Virginian-Pilot.

Yin has been a celebrity since she first appeared in public June 21. The 1-year-old stayed in her habitat until two hours after the zoo opened, keeping early-bird visitors waiting, and then escaped.

That first time, she climbed so high keepers used a cherry picker to reach her.

After the first escape, electrified wire was placed around her enclosure, carrying enough current to give her a mild but discouraging jolt. Officials believe she found another way out, using overhanging tree branches.

"There are routes we might not see but a panda does," Bockheim said.