Flaco, the renowned owl from Central Park Zoo, missing since a vandal interfered with its exhibit over a year ago, tragically passed away on Friday, confirmed zoo authorities.
The owl collided with a building in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, near Central Park, as per a statement from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the organization managing the zoo.
Residents of the building alerted the World Bird Fund, and personnel from the rehabilitation center retrieved the unconscious owl around 7 p.m., according to the zoo.
Flaco was pronounced dead shortly thereafter and transported to the Bronx Zoo for a necropsy. The Central Park Zoo issued a statement on Saturday regarding initial findings, indicating that they align with “death due to acute traumatic injury,” likely from colliding with a building.
“The primary impact seems to have affected the body,” the statement noted.
Further investigations will depend on tissue examinations, toxicology screenings to detect potential exposure to rodenticides or other toxins, and tests for infectious diseases, the zoo added. Conclusions stemming from these investigations could take several weeks to ascertain.
The zoo highlighted that collisions with buildings in New York City result in the deaths of over 200,000 migratory birds annually, a figure corroborated by the nonprofit NYC Audubon.
Flaco disappeared from its enclosure at the Central Park Zoo on the evening of Feb. 2, 2023.
The Central Park Zoo disclosed that someone had breached the steel mesh surrounding Flaco’s habitat, allowing the majestic bird to embark on an unexpected city adventure.
Arriving at the zoo as a fledgling 13 years prior, Flaco initially sparked concerns about adapting to urban life.
However, the zoo reassured that Flaco thrived on the ample prey available in the bustling metropolis.
“We observed him successfully hunting, catching, and consuming prey,” the Central Park Zoo said in a statement released 10 days after he went missing. “We have seen a rapid improvement in his flight skills and ability to confidently maneuver around the park.”
“People did not expect him to survive,” Jacqueline Emery, a birder who documented the owl’s daily movements, told The Associated Press earlier this month. “New Yorkers especially connect to him because of his resilience.”
Flaco demonstrated remarkable survival skills, managing to elude authorities initially on Fifth Avenue adjacent to the park on the night of his escape, and subsequently on multiple occasions thereafter.
In the year following the breach, the owl gained widespread recognition as a frequent flyer around Manhattan, prompting the zoo to comment in a statement,
“There are a lot of eyes on Flaco.”
No individual or group has come forward to claim responsibility for the breach of the exhibit. The zoo emphasized in its Friday statement that whoever compromised the enclosure “bears ultimate responsibility for his death.”
“We maintain hope that the NYPD, currently investigating the vandalism, will apprehend the perpetrator,” the statement concluded.
