Photo: ABC News.
Flaco, the Eurasian eagle owl who escaped from his vandalized Central Park Zoo enclosure, seen on Feb. 18, 2023, in New York City.
Having recently read a children’s book about wild animals in a park like New York’s Central Park who were trying to free captive zoo animals, I am still pondering the message that freedom isn’t right for every once-caged creature. Now comes new detail on the death of Central Park Zoo’s escaped Eurasian eagle owl, Flaco, and some news on creating a statue in his memory.
Elaine Velie reports at Hyperallergic, “More than 3,000 people have signed a petition urging New York City to install a permanent statue in honor of Flaco, the beloved Eurasian eagle owl who died [in February]. The proposed monument’s design would involve a pedestal with a protruding branch where Flaco’s sculpture would perch for eternity.
“Few members of the animal kingdom have captured the imagination of New Yorkers quite like the bird who was set free from his enclosure in the Central Park Zoo last year. Flaco, who was 12 at the time of his release, managed to live for more than a year in Manhattan, where he developed a devout following before colliding with a window on the Upper West Side last week.
“Petition author Mike Hubbard, a 34-year-old musician who has lived in NYC for 12 years, told Hyperallergic that Flaco initially inspired him because of the bird’s ‘against-all-odds’ survival story. Though the owl had lived in captivity all his life, he was able to learn to hunt, most famously capturing rats. …
“Hubbard said. ‘He had people looking up instead of at their phones, and for once, everyone from all walks of life had someone to cheer for. It was beautiful.’ …
“Erecting commemorative statues in Central Park, however, is a lengthy process that requires rigorous rounds of public review. Few projects get approved. Still, New Yorkers have already taken the initiative to memorialize Flaco, creating ad hoc artistic tributes to the iconic bird.
“Native to a wide swath of land stretching from Siberia to the tip of Ethiopia and as far east as the Himalayan foothills, Eurasian eagle owls can live up to 60 years in captivity and 20 in the wild. Flaco died just short of 14. …
“ ‘Flaco’s swift adaptation to life in the wild inspired people all over the world,’ David Barrett, who runs the popular Manhattan Bird Alert X account, told Hyperallergic, adding that he ‘seemed to love being a free owl.’ ” More at Hyperallergic, here.
Ed Shanahan at the New York Times has details on the autopsy: “Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl whose escape from the Central Park Zoo and life on the loose captivated New York, had enough rat poison and pigeon virus in his system to kill him even if he had not died after apparently striking an Upper West Side building last month.
“The finding, from a necropsy conducted by Bronx Zoo pathologists after Flaco’s death on Feb. 23, validated widespread concerns about the hazards he faced living as a free bird in Manhattan for just over a year. …
“ ‘Flaco’s severe illness and death are ultimately attributed to a combination of factors — infectious disease, toxin exposures and traumatic injuries — that underscore the hazards faced by wild birds, especially in an urban setting,’ [said] the Wildlife Conservation Society, which operates the Central Park and Bronx Zoos.” More at the Times.
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