A rare red panda escaped from Newquay Zoo and was recaptured near a fruit wholesalers in the town on Friday morning.
Sandra, which had only recently arrived at the attraction, was spotted wandering down Springfield Road by Chris May, who is one of the drivers at FreshPoint at about 7am.
Chris could not believe his eyes but managed to marshal the panda into a sheltered housing complex and telephoned the police.
Chris Tomkins, who works in the office at FreshPoint, tried to keep the Panda occupied until the police arrived by rolling the animal an apple, which she happily gobbled up.
Zoo keepers from Newquay Zoo were called to the scene and managed to capture the red panda with a big net.
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Rachel Craze, the owner of FreshPoint, said: “A red panda is not what you expect to see in the small hours of the morning.
“The police were phoned and an officer stood guard until a zoo keeper arrived to catch it.
“The panda was really calm until the zoo keeper came with the big net but was not pleased after he was captured.”
Dave Folland, Head of Newquay Zoo said “On Friday morning, a red panda called Sundara, who had arrived at Newquay Zoo earlier this month, escaped from her enclosure. Our team responded in accordance with well-practiced procedures and she was swiftly recaptured and returned to her home.”
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Newquay Zoo’s resident red panda, Seren, recently got a new friend at the attraction in the shape of 11-month-old red panda Sundara.
While red pandas are shy by nature, the two females have already been spotted together, high up in the trees of their enclosure.
Red pandas, which are native to forests and mountains ranging from northern Myanmar to Western Nepal, spend most of their life in trees. And while they belong to a group of carnivorous mammals, they mainly feed on bamboo shoots and leaves, along with some fruits and blossoms.
The team at Newquay hopes that Sundara might be part of a breeding pair when she is older.
Both red pandas can be found in their tree-filled enclosure in the middle of Newquay Zoo.