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Flaco, the famous Central Park Zoo owl who disappeared after a vandal tampered with the bird’s exhibit more than a year ago, died Friday, zoo officials said.
The owl crashed into a building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, not far from Central Park, the zoo said in a statement shared by the Wildlife Conservation Society, which manages it.
People in the building contacted the World Bird Fund and members of the rehabilitation center picked up the unresponsive bird around 7 p.m., the zoo said.
Flaco was pronounced dead shortly after and taken to the Bronx Zoo for a necropsy. On Saturday, the Central Park Zoo issued a statement about the initial findings, which it said are consistent with “death due to an acute traumatic injury,” such as hitting a building.
“The main impact appears to have been to the body,” he said.
Other findings will be based on tissue samples, toxicology tests that could reveal any possible exposure to rodenticides or other toxins and tests for infectious diseases, the zoo said. Conclusions based on that research could take weeks, he said.
The zoo said collisions with buildings in New York City are estimated to kill more than 200,000 migratory birds annually, a figure echoed by the nonprofit. New York Audubon.
The owl disappeared from its exhibit at the Central Park Zoo on the night of February 2, 2023.
Someone cut a steel mesh in Flaco’s habitat, allowing the majestic bird to take a tour of the city, the Central Park Zoo said at the time.
The owl had arrived at the zoo as a fledgling 13 years earlier. Some expressed concern about his ability to survive in the big city, but Flaco feasted on plenty of prey, the zoo said.
“We observed him successfully hunting, trapping and consuming prey,” the Central Park Zoo said in a statement issued 10 days after his disappearance. “We have seen rapid improvement in their flying skills and their ability to confidently maneuver around the park.”
“People didn’t expect it to survive,” said Jacqueline Emery, a bird watcher who documented the owl’s daily movements. The Associated Press earlier this month. “New Yorkers especially connect with him because of his resilience.”
Flaco was skilled enough to survive in the city that he evaded authorities, first on Fifth Avenue next to the park the night he flew away, and then many other times afterward.
The owl became a frequent and famous traveler around Manhattan a year after the violation, and the zoo said in a statement at the time: “There are a lot of eyes on Skinny.”
No one has claimed responsibility for cutting down the habitat.
Whoever damaged the exhibit “is ultimately responsible for his death,” the zoo said in its statement Friday.
“We are still hopeful that the NYPD, who is investigating the vandalism, will eventually make an arrest,” he said.
The New York Police Department said by email on Saturday that the 2023 zoo break-in remained under investigation and that no arrests had been made.
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