奇速英语

为追求自由，小熊猫“离家出走”

An adventure-loving red panda’s daring three-day escape from Adelaide Zoo has come to a dramatic end.

The red panda is Ravi. He had only just moved to the zoo last week and he got lost on Friday. Zookeepers spent hours searching the zoo for the celebrity. He lived with the Irwins at Australia Zoo in Queensland before moving to Adelaide. The seven-year-old male red panda was born in Adelaide but had been sent to Australia Zoo. A lot of attention was being paid to him and the famous Irwin family there, and he was often featured in videos and photographs on the social media platforms.

On Sunday morning, a sharp-eyed security officer noticed a red tail in a Moreton Bay fig tree in the park. Ravi’s keepers produced a range of treats to let him down—but sweet corn and bamboo were not as sweet as freedom.

The panda was brought down with a tranquilliser dart(麻醉枪) shot by a highly trained zookeeper. Adelaide Zoo director Dr Phil Ainsley said the celebrity would spend the next two to three days in a secure animal health department.

“Based on the advice from our vets(兽医), we made the decision of shooting him,” Dr Ainsley said. Ravi was probably already asleep when he was hit by the dart.

Dr Ainsley added red pandas were incredibly agile(敏捷的) and last week’s bad weather, along with Ravi still getting used to his new habitat, could have led to his escape. The zoo would review Ravi’s escape in the coming days to ensure they understood how he escaped before putting him back in his enclosure. Ravi’s escape was described as low risk for humans, and Dr Ainsley said being a red panda, Ravi had likely spent most of his time on the run sitting in a tree.