The much adored Eurasian eagle-owl had underlying conditions from eating diseased pigeons and poisoned rats.
By Katie Honan
- This story was originally published by THE CITY. Sign up to get the latest New York City news delivered to you each morning.
- The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Flaco, the beloved Eurasian eagle-owl who flew from his perch at the Central Park Zoo after it was vandalized, had underlying conditions that could have caused him to fall from or fly into an Upper West Side building last month — and may have ultimately killed him.
Bronx Zoo veterinary pathologists found Flaco also “had a severe pigeon herpes virus” from eating the birds while living in the wild, and was exposed to four anticoagulant rodenticides used to control rats in New York City, a spokesperson for the zoo said Monday.
Toxicology reports also found small amounts of DDE, which is a breakdown of DDT, although the levels didn’t contribute to his death, toxicologists said. Despite being banned in the United States in the early 1970s, it’s still persistent in the environment, they 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,” the zoo spokesperson said in a statement.
Barry the owl, another beloved bird who died in 2021 after colliding with a Central Park Conservancy vehicle, was found with high traces of rat poison in her system that veterinarians believe could have impaired her flying.
This week THE CITY published excerpts from recent death reports for wild animals in New York City, which showed many wild birds died from the effects of rat poison after eating prey that had consumed it.
Rat poison is restricted in city parks but is still used elsewhere in the city. The zoo is still trying to find the human who vandalized Flaco’s cage that initially set him free.
THE CITY is a nonprofit newsroom that serves the people of New York. Sign up for our SCOOP newsletter and get exclusive stories, helpful tips, a guide to low-cost events, and everything you need to know to be a well-informed New Yorker.
The Line That Didn’t Land
I stood in the back of Good Shepherd Chapel on the evening of April 15, 2026, at the Steam Plant Demolition Town Hall, watching people adjust scarves and jackets before the meeting began. Benjamin Jones, President and CEO of RIOC, thanked us for attending and, without a pause, said he was “pleased to host tonight’s town hall on the city’s demolition of its steam plant.” The demolition, in other words, was not up for discussion.
