Achi news desk-
New York City’s famous owl Flaco was suffering from a serious pigeon-borne illness and high levels of rat poison when he crashed into a building and died last month, officials at the Bronx Zoo said Monday.
The Eurasian eagle owl was found dead in a Manhattan courtyard on February 23, just over a year after it escaped from a damaged enclosure at the Central Park Zoo and began life in the urban wilderness that captivated New York.
Although an initial autopsy indicated the cause of death was trauma, further tests revealed a pair of significant medical conditions may have contributed to the collision, zoo officials said.
Blood tests showed Flaco had been exposed to four different rat poisons and had a “severe” case of pigeon herpes virus that had damaged his brain, liver, spleen and other organs.
“These factors would have been debilitating and ultimately fatal, even without traumatic injury,” the zoo said in a statement. “Flaco’s serious illness and death are ultimately attributed to a combination of factors—infectious disease, toxin exposures, and traumatic injuries—that underscore the dangers wild birds face, especially in an urban setting .”
After an unknown vandal sneaked into the zoo and broke his cage, Flaco spent his initial days of freedom inside Central Park, before venturing out into the Manhattan skyline. Although he had lived his entire 13 years in captivity, he quickly proved to be a skilled hunter, preying on the city’s vast population of rats.
But his freedom also worried some experts, who said he faced a variety of threats in the city, including the likelihood of eating a poisoned rat.
In the days before his death, Flaco had stopped his nightly hooting from the city’s rooftops, prompting some to fear he was ill, according to David Barrett, a bird-running enthusiast. a social media page that documented the owl’s movements.
“While these results remind us of the tragedy of Flaco’s death, they also bring understanding and closure,” Barrett said.
Following his death, zoo officials put the blame squarely on the vandal who broke his enclosure, a crime that remains unsolved.
