Flaco, the famous owl from Central Park Zoo who went missing over a year ago because someone messed with his home, has passed away, according to zoo officials. He accidentally hit a building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, near Central Park. People in the building found him and contacted the World Bird Fund. Around 7 p.m., members from a rehabilitation center picked up the bird, but sadly, he didn’t make it.
Shortly after Flaco’s passing, he was taken to the Bronx Zoo for a detailed examination called a necropsy. Flaco disappeared from his home at Central Park Zoo on the evening of February 2, 2023. Someone had cut through the strong wire mesh of Flaco’s habitat, which let him fly around the city, Central Park Zoo reported. Flaco had arrived at the zoo as a young bird 13 years before. Some people worried about how he would manage in the busy city, but Flaco found plenty of food to eat, the zoo explained.
The Central Park Zoo said, “We watched him hunt, catch, and eat food successfully,” ten days after he disappeared. “We’ve noticed he’s getting better at flying and moving around the park with confidence.”
“Many people didn’t think he’d make it,” Jacqueline Emery, a bird enthusiast who tracked the owl’s daily activities, told The Associated Press recently. “People in New York especially feel a bond with him because he’s shown such strength.”
Flaco was really good at staying hidden in the city. He managed to avoid being caught by the authorities, first near Fifth Avenue by the park the night he flew away, and then many other times after that.
After he got out, Flaco became a well-known and often seen flyer around Manhattan for a whole year. The zoo said in a statement, “Lots of people are keeping an eye out for Flaco.”
Nobody has admitted to cutting into Flaco’s home.
The zoo said in a statement on Friday that whoever broke the exhibit is the reason Flaco died. They’re hoping the police, who are looking into the vandalism, will catch the person responsible. A spokesperson from the New York Police Department said they didn’t know about the case’s status but promised to check and get back with more information.
