By Gus Saltonstall
New information was released Monday evening that sheds light on Flaco’s health condition at the time of his death last month.
The Eurasian eagle owl was found dead after flying into a building on West 89th Street on Feb. 2, and acute trauma throughout the bird’s body was discovered in the immediate aftermath, but a statement released by the Central Park Zoo on Monday evening says that Bronx Zoo veterinary pathologists also found “significant underlying conditions.”
Flaco had “severe pigeon herpesvirus from eating feral pigeons” and had been exposed to “four different anticoagulant rodenticides that are commonly used for rat control.”
“These factors would have been debilitating and ultimately fatal, even without a traumatic injury, and may have predisposed him to flying into or falling from the building,” the Central Park Zoo wrote.
Rodenticides were a leading worry for Flaco’s wellbeing during his year of freedom following his release from the Central Park Zoo enclosure, with many speculating at the time of his death that it could have played a part.
Herpesvirus can be carried by healthy pigeons, but may cause fatal disease in the birds of prey that eat pigeons. The virus causes “severe tissue damage and inflammation in many organs,” according to the Central Park Zoo.
Flaco is not the first famous NYC owl to die with rat poison as a possible contributing factor. In the summer of 2021, Barry the owl was struck by a Central Park Conservancy vehicle, and was also found to have a potentially lethal amount of rat poison in her system.
You can read the Central Park Zoo’s full release on Flaco’s postmortem testing results — HERE.
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The people who vandalized Flaco’s enclosure and allowed him to escape are responsible for his death. Period. I hope anybody who thinks they are doing zoo animals a favor by releasing them into a hostile city environment think twice before doing something so stupid again.
Thank you!
Said from start Falco likely consumed poisoned rodents but loud chorus of “Let Falco Be Free” didn’t want to hear a word.
Why is it so difficult for certain persons to comprehend Falco was far safer where he was, rather than being let lose into a world he didn’t know.
The grain of truth in your comment is that New York City is not a hospitable place for owls. Wild owls in the city are just as likely to die of all the same harms (like poisoned rats) that came to Flaco. We’re equally responsible for all their deaths. That doesn’t mean that we did Flaco a favor by bringing him here to live in a net enclosure so that we could look at him. You’re asking people to think “before doing something so stupid.” Who decided to bring him here in the first place?
Thank you. Before we start hearing about how the problem is composting and more investment in trash receptacles, let’s look at the root cause. And maybe the residents who insist in feeding pigeons and ultimately the rats.
I’ve never met a person feeding pgeons who was normal.
Agreed. Occasionally there are people who throw gobs of old bagels for the pigeons on 80th and Broadway (opposite Zabars). Drives me nuts. Sometimes the sidewalk to the entrance of New York Sports Club is impassible due to the hundreds of birds. I don’t feel guilty at all about yelling at the perpetrators.
Reminds me of the woman who used to feed all the ducks at the entrance to the pier near the 79th Street Boat Basin. Her thoughtlessness created a mess and a stink that we all had to walk through. The ducks would not have starved. Hopefully she won’t return when the pier is reopened….
I just read an excellent readable book on Owls that lovers of Flako and Barry might be interested in: What An Owl Knows by Jennifer Ackerman.
Goes to show you all the diseases rats and pigeons carry.
How quickly we point the finger before examining the evidence!
You’re right and Central Park Zoo should be liable . The zoo should’ve recapture Flaco the owl in Central Park.
Yes…. how quickly we condemn before examining the evidence. The building had nothing to do with his death. He was poisoned by eating NYC rats and pigeons.
And on the literary side, I enthusiastically recommend Mary Oliver’s lovely collection of poems and essays, “Owls and Other Fantasies.”
Maybe it’s time to think of this in a different way.
No one knows how long anyone has to live until one dies.
Flaco could have stayed in his cage for many more years, but he would have been a captive, in a jail.
By being free for a year, flying all over the city and getting his own food the way owls do, he experienced life as an owl should, free and aware of his freedom.
Maybe that one year of freedom was worth the many years in captivity.
“Give me liberty or give me death”.
At least Flaco died a free bird.
he should have been captured and released in into the true wild, into a habitat that matched his being. his becoming an icon of freedom was our human folly.
A free bird who was inadvertanty poisoned.
I, for one, do everything I am able to protect and enjoy my health. True, we cannot predict our mortality, but we can increase our chances for a better quality and length of life.
Flaco did not have that ability or opportunity.
Your comment is way too romantically anthropomorphic for my beliefs. Birds rely on instinct and don’t have the complex intellectual powers to understand “freedom” in the sense that a human would. While Flacco might have preferred not to be in a cage, the fact is that this was a wild bird that never had the upbringing and conditioning that wild birds usually have and need for survival. That means that there was no way Flacco could have survived city life since birds can’t distinguish between healthy and unhealthy rats and pigeons.
Your comment contains unsubstantiated suggestions as well, including the belief that an owl that lived entirely in the wild would somehow be able to tell that a particular rat had ingested rodenticide. We all remember that during the pandemic, Barry the barred owl was also found to have ingested rat poison (and obviously had not escaped from a zoo). Unfortunately these hazards exist for all owls in New York City.
Grayson, I understand your point, but I think the overarching one is that Flaco had no way of avoiding toxins in an urban environment. Crudely put, it came down to (inadvertently) eat poison or starve to death. Wildlife in their natural habitat may also be unable to distinguish safe food from deadly fare, but the abundance of the former stacks the odds greatly in their favor. Poor Flaco faced far poorer odds, with the tragically predictable outcome.
Rat poison is an unequivocal evil, one that affects far too many other animal species besides rats, not to mention domestic pets AND children. It’s an awful way to go – our dog was poisoned by it some years ago and suffered a brain hemorrhage with permanent neurological complications that she eventually died from. We must find other better, safer ways for rodent control.
terrible evil. maleffects upon the entire ecosystem, include the natural predators who prey upon vermin. there are not enough studies to determine how rat poison affects the water systems, the soil, and all the other things all being rely on.
Lilly, I am so sorry for the loss of your dog to yes, this unequivocal evil. And indeed we absolutely must find a better, safer way for rodent control – and may that day come soon!
I recall seeing Flaco the Owl for the first time, trapped in his tiny enclosure at the Central Park Zoo, and then I marveled at seeing him living boldly and freely, over three (3) dozen times during my walks in Central Park. Gazing at his majestic flight, and being captivated by his resounding hoots were true gifts, which I will always cherish and remember. Through his splendid (yet tragic) year outside of captivity, Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle-Owl broadened our horizons and lifted our spirits, and thus, arguably, he also singlehandedly embodied part of the mission of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) by helping us to discover, interpret, and disseminate knowledge about our captivating natural world! Therefore, wouldn’t it be a fitting tribute if Flaco’s remains could be professionally embalmed by a taxidermist, and respectfully displayed at the AMNH? This way, those who were lucky enough to see him in the “Wilds of New York City” could visit him again, and those who did not, could have the special opportunity to behold and appreciate his impressive beauty.
I’m so sorry, Flaco.
Whatever happen to the experiment that was talked about a couple decades ago about leaving out food for the rats that contained birth control? Wasn’t that a thing, once back in the 80s or 90s? It’s not poison. But it keep the population down. I don’t know if it would do the same thing in another species who may eat that rat. But it’s better than poison.
👀You see ….I told you so……
It had nothing to do with crashing
into the building.
my gripe is why didn’t the Central Park Zoo go out and recapture him, he was not meant for the wild. I hold the Central Park Zoo responsible!
I don’t like any zoo, but I sure don’t like Central Park zoo. It’s very unkept and not up to today’s standards.
Personally, I think it should be shut down.