Animals
Flaco, the eagle owl that escaped from the New York zoo, is dead
The famous eagle owl Flaco from New York has died. photo
© Seth Wenig/AP/dpa
The animal celebrity from America is dead. Eagle Owl Flaco escaped from New York’s Central Park and died while flying through Manhattan.
The sight of one has lasted more than a year Eagle owls in the heart of New York surprised and thrilled people in the US metropolis, but now Flaco’s life has come to a tragic end.
The bird died after allegedly hitting a building, the Central Park Zoo said in a statement. Accordingly, employees of the wildlife rescue service WBF recovered his body from the ground next to a building in Manhattan following a tip from eyewitnesses.
The Eurasian eagle owl escaped from the Central Park Zoo at the beginning of February 2023 after unknown people cut the bars of its enclosure. Over the months, the stately bird has been spotted several times in and around the park, enthusiastically photographed and its image shared as a curiosity on social media – for example during a trip to the famous Fifth Avenue shopping street. Animal experts expressed concern that after a decade in captivity, the eagle owl may not be able to catch prey in the wild and therefore needs to be rescued and fed.
Employees kept an eye on Flaco during his time in the wild and were ready to catch him if he showed signs of stress or difficulty, the zoo said. “The vandal who damaged Flaco’s enclosure endangered the bird’s safety and is ultimately responsible for its death.” There is still hope that the police investigation will eventually lead to an arrest.