A red panda named Fia put its climbing skills to the test, escaping from an exhibit at the Franklin Park Zoo and giving parents a scare.

The panda scurried up into a tree by the red panda exhibit within Nature’s Neighborhoods at about 10:50 a.m. yesterday. By noon, staff using nets caught her. The critter was not harmed, according to Zoo New England.

Zoo officials said they don’t know how the animal escaped, but once it is determined, they will make “adjustments” so it doesn’t happen again.

The zoo stayed open to the public, but parents were shocked to find a panda roaming around.

“What if the kids ran into him? How would he react up close to a child?” asked Kim Do of Burlington. “It would be frightening.”

Fia is one of three red pandas at the zoo.

Red pandas resemble raccoons with white and red markings and are covered with dense fur. In the wild, red pandas can be found in the cool, temperate bamboo forests in the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan in China, as well as in the Himalayas and Myanmar.

Zoo New England said they share part of their range with giant pandas, a species that, despite their name, they are not related to.