Flaco the owl charmed Big Apple residents with his high-flying adventures for more than a year after escaping from the Central Park Zoo, only to die from a poisonous soup of herpes virus and four types of rat poison. An autopsy revealed that.
On Monday, the Central Park Zoo released the autopsy results of a 13-year-old Eurasian eagle owl that died on February 23 after flying into a building on the Upper West Side.
Flaco was infected with “severe pigeon herpesvirus” after eating stray pigeons, which were part of Flaco’s regular diet, according to veterinary pathologists at the Bronx Zoo. That’s what it means.
He was also exposed to four anticoagulant rodenticides commonly used to control rats in New York City.
In the months following his escape, Flaco was frequently seen in and around Central Park devouring rats, slowly poisoning them with each unwitting bite.
The zoo said the bird was probably severely ill and in a weakened state when it jumped into a building on West 89th Street in Manhattan and died.
“These factors could have been debilitating and ultimately fatal even in the absence of trauma, predisposing him to jump into or fall from a building,” the zoo said.
“Flaco’s severe illness and death, ultimately thought to be due to a combination of factors including infection, exposure to toxins and trauma, highlights the dangers faced by wild birds, especially in urban environments. ing.”
Flaco escaped in February 2023 after vandals cut through the stainless steel mesh of Flaco’s enclosure at the Central Park Zoo, police said at the time.
No arrests were made, but the Wildlife Conservation Society placed the blame for Flaco’s death squarely on those who released it.
“The vandals who destroyed Flaco’s exhibits endangered Flaco’s safety and are ultimately responsible for Flaco’s death,” the group said in a statement.
Although Flaco was raised in captivity, he had no demands from the safety of his cage as his every need was taken care of by the zoo’s dedicated team.
He lived a peaceful and predictable life. Exactly what many city dwellers want.
But ironically, once freed, Gotham’s vast concrete jungle became a different, more dangerous kind of prison, one that ultimately proved too harsh for this majestic creature to endure. .
As a free bird, Flaco had to fend for himself in a frightening and unfamiliar environment with hidden dangers lurking around every corner.
Between the treacherous glass and concrete obstacles towering hundreds of feet into the air and the veritable impregnation of toxic chemicals that seeped into his only natural food, Flaco spent his time on borrowed time from the moment he was released.
