NEW YORK (AP) — Flaco, New York City’s famous owl, died from a traumatic impact, zoologists confirmed a day after he reportedly crashed into a building, and authorities plan to conduct more tests to determine if the Eurasian eagle owl was sick.
What happened in Flaco’s final hours is most important to his fans across the city, who cheered him on as he defied the odds by fending for himself after a life in captivity. Police are still seeking to arrest whoever freed him from his enclosure at the Central Park Zoo a year ago.
The necropsy revealed that Flaco was in good physical condition and was capable of capturing prey even though he had no experience in hunting because he arrived at the zoo as a chick 13 years ago. According to the necropsy report released Saturday, the owl weighed 1.89 kilograms (4.1 pounds), just 2% less than the last time it was measured at the zoo.
Flaco was found dead Friday on a sidewalk after apparently crashing into a building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
“The primary impact appears to have been to the body, as there was substantial hemorrhage under the sternum and in the back of the body cavity around the liver,” the report reads.
Central Park Zoo officials placed the blame squarely on the person who opened Flaco’s enclosure. But they are investigating illness as a possible factor and plan to release an update on the situation in about two weeks.
“This will include microscopic examination of tissue samples; toxicology testing to evaluate possible exposures to rodenticides or other toxins; and testing for infectious diseases such as West Nile virus and avian influenza,” according to the zoo statement.
Praise from her fans poured in over the weekend. So did speculation about which of the many urban threats to wildlife may have contributed to his death.
Flaco’s admirers who heard his late-night hooting on the Upper West Side reported that he had gone quiet in the days before his death and theorized that he may have been ill.
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2024-02-25 20:05:22
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