(Image via smithsonianmag.com) 

Volunteer Writer: Emma Bowser

Email: ebowser@umassd.edu 

After a little over a year on his own in New York City, Flaco the Eurasian Eagle Owl passed away after colliding with a building located on West 89th Street.

The Wild Bird Fund received word from nearby apartment dwellers and acted promptly to retrieve his body and confirm his death. 

After his escape from Central Park Zoo, Flaco quickly grew in popularity with New York City residents and Internet denizens, who received updates on his daily life from social media websites like X. 

In fact, some would even claim that Flaco was considered to be more popular than the local mayor and former governor of the area. People found him endearing because of the way that he came right up to their windows, and spent time around the more urban parts of the city.

After his death was announced, “a large oak tree on East Drive near 104th Street, supposedly Flaco’s favorite, became the site of a memorial.” People mourned the loss of Flaco, leaving flowers at the memorial and consoling each other. Many felt like they had lost a best friend.

Central Park Zoo put the blame for Flaco’s death on the vandal who originally damaged the enclosure that Flaco lived in prior to his escape. After all, he wouldn’t have died from flying into a building if he had remained at the zoo under the care of the staff. The New York Police Department is still investigating the vandalism and has yet to make an official arrest.

However, some citizens disagree with this statement. They say that one year of freedom is more valuable than ten or more years spent living in a zoo enclosure. 

Rumors have also been circulating among citizens that the blunt force impact of colliding with the building isn’t the sole reason why Flaco died. People on X awaited the official results of the necropsy with anticipation of more information regarding the situation.

The necropsy report showed a minute difference in weight. During captivity, he weighed 4.2 pounds and after death, he weighed 4.1 pounds. The toxicology and disease test results discovered that he had a lethal amount of rat poison and pigeon herpes virus in his system. 

As a carnivore, Flaco sought prey within New York City limits. He ate pigeons carrying the herpesvirus and came into contact with rats who consumed anticoagulants commonly found in rodenticides placed around New York City to control the booming rat population. The combination of infection and the harmful rodenticide affected his movements and judgments.

This is all to say even if he hadn’t collided with the building, he would have died anyway.

This pigeon herpesvirus has been documented in New York City birds before, especially in pigeons and owls. Feral pigeons can carry the virus without symptoms and then pass the disease on to owls when the owls eat them. 

Rodenticides are very common in urban areas that have issues controlling the rodent population. Ironically, this is one of the reasons why Flaco was so popular with New York City citizens: he contributed to the fight against the rat population and was frequently seen eating rats.

The toxicology reports also showed trace amounts of DDE but nowhere near the amount required for a lethal or mildly harmful dose. DDE is a breakdown product of DDT, which is a pesticide that was made illegal in the US years ago due to the significant increase in wildlife deaths resulting from its widespread use. 

Since its ban in the 1970s, DDT has remained consistent in the environment. It breaks down over time, leaving trace elements scattered across the land. Nonetheless, its effects reverberate across not only bird populations but entire ecosystems.