#RedPanda Search Starts And Ends on Twitter

Who is Rusty and why did he become a trending topic on social media? Rusty, the red panda, was lost on the night of June 23, 2013 and zookeepers immediately resorted to social networking site Twitter to successfully find him. As soon as news spread of Rusty?s disappearance from his usual spot at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, people online immediately tweeted and started hashtags to find the animal. Some of the hashtags relating to his successful capture were #Rusty and #RedPanda. Clues leading to his whereabouts were regularly updated on Twitter until he was finally brought back to the zoo the next day. By the time Rusty was found, there were over 65,000 mentions and 3,339 retweets. @AshleyFoughty tweeted on the afternoon of June 24 with a picture of the red panda on 20th NW and Biltmore in the neighborhood of Adams Morgan. She called on the zookeepers to get Rusty. One individual from D.C. also live tweeted the full story regarding Rusty?s search and capture. The red panda was finally caught hiding out in a tree. The zoo also informed and thanked online users afterwards, saying that the red panda is on its way back to the National Zoo following a checkup at the veterinary hospital. According to technology experts, it was smart for the National Zoo to use social media in tracking Rusty. The zoo initially shared the information about the missing red panda then added a picture of Rusty and a contact number for sightings. Ezra Gottheil of Technology Business Research said that the zoo should have also started a hashtag to bring in helpful Twitter users where they can discuss strategies in locating the animal and safety measures, considering Rusty is a wild animal. To give you an idea how the Twitterverse got busy during the search, here?s the raw data on both #Rusty and #RedPanda. #Rusty #RedPanda Online users also shared their joy and excitement regarding the successful finding of Rusty. The topic was trending very well on Twitter during its first few hours. Here are the other hashtags used for the search. .