Flaco the owl had pigeon herpes, 4 kinds of rat poison in his system when he tragically died
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Flaco the Owl, whose high-flying adventures captivated Big Apple dwellers for more than a year after his escape from the Central Park Zoo, was ravaged by herpesvirus and a toxic soup of four different rat poisons when he died, a necropsy has revealed.
On Monday the Central Park Zoo released the results of its postmortem on the 13-year-old Eurasian Eagle Owl, who died Feb. 23 after flying into a building on the Upper West Side.
Flaco had “severe pigeon herpesvirus” from eating feral pigeons, which Bronx Zoo veterinary pathologists said had become a regular part of his diet.
He also had exposure to four different anticoagulant rodenticides commonly used for controlling rats in New York City.
In the months following his escape, Flaco was frequently seen feasting on rats in and around Central Park, unknowingly slowly poisoning himself with every morsel.
The zoo said the bird was most likely extremely sick, and in a debilitated state when he fatally flew into the building on West 89th Street in Manhattan.
“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 zoo said.
“Flaco’s severe illness and death are ultimately attributed to a combination of factors—infectious disease, toxin exposures, and traumatic injuries—that underscore the hazards faced by wild birds, especially in an urban setting.”
Flaco escaped in February 2023 after vandals cut the stainless steel mesh on his enclosure at the Central Park Zoo, cops said at the time.
No arrests were ever made, but the Wildlife Conservation Society placed the blame for Flaco’s death squarely on the people who set him free.
“The vandal who damaged Flaco’s exhibit jeopardized the safety of the bird and is ultimately responsible for his death,” the organization wrote in a statement.
Although he was raised in captivity, Flaco wanted for nothing from the safety of his enclosure, his every need attended to by the zoo’s dedicated team.
He lived a peaceful, predictable life — exactly what so many human city dwellers find themselves wishing for.
But ironically, once freed, the sprawling concrete jungle of Gotham became a different, much more dangerous kind of prison, which ultimately proved too inhospitable for the majestic creature to bear.
As a free bird, Flaco was left to fend for himself in a frightening and unfamiliar environment with hidden dangers lurking around every corner.
Between the treacherous glass-and-concrete obstacles rising hundreds of feet in the air and the veritable gauntlet of toxic chemicals permating his only natural food supply, Flaco was on borrowed time from the moment he was released.
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