NEW YORK — New York City’s most popular owl is still flying free one year after escaping the Central Park Zoo .
Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl, escaped on Feb. 2, 2023, and to this day, birders are still following Flaco’s movements around Manhattan.
“Success against great odds. Flaco epitomizes that,” bird enthusiast David Barrett said.
A hero for New Yorkers is how Barrett describes the 13-year-old owl, whose popularity took flight in the past year.
It started with a criminal act — someone cut the stainless steel mesh of his zoo exhibit on Feb. 2 of last year, and he flew out. Police still haven’t made any arrests. Efforts to capture him fizzled out after a few days when the zoo realized he was able to catch his own food.
“We had grave concerns about how Flaco would survive in the city because there are so many threats,” said Andrew Maas, with New York City Audubon.
And there still are. While Flaco has been able to quickly adapt to eating the rats in high supply citywide , they themselves could be infected by rat poison through traps.