Owl’s not well, yet
Central Park Zoo critter proving tough to grab
A wayward owl was on the lam Friday after it escaped from a Central Park zoo enclosure that appeared to have been intentionally ripped open, cops said.
Flaco, a Eurasian eagle-owl, was noticed missing from its exhibit at about 8:30 p.m. Thursday, a zoo spokesperson said.
The stainless steel mesh of Flaco’s enclosure appeared to have been cut open, the spokesperson said. Police were investigating the incident as possible criminal mischief.
After flying the coop, Flaco embarked on a tour of the neighborood.
Passersby spotted Flaco at Fifth Ave. and E. 60th St., not far from the zoo, at around 9 p.m. Thursday, cops and the zoo spokesperson said.
A crowd watched as Emergency Services Unit officers worked to get the bird into a cage, but Flaco wasn’t ready to go home, and flew off again, cops said.
“Well, that was a hoot,” the NYPD’s 19th Precinct wrote in a tweet. “We tried to help this lil wise guy, but he had enough of his growing audience and flew off.”
Later Thursday evening, zoo staff saw Flaco perched in a tree near the zoo, and kept an eye on it throughout the night.
At sunrise, Flaco flew back into the southeast corner of Central Park, and settled in on a hard-toreach tree branch near the park’s Hallett Nature Sanctuary, just north of W. 59th St. between Fifth and Sixth Aves.
On Friday afternoon, cops and city parks department staff attempted to
lure Flaco down with live mice, to no avail.
“Our focus and effort at this time is on the safe recovery of the owl,” a zoo spokesperson said.
Eurasian eagle-owls, among the world’s largest owls, are native to much of Europe and Asia, as well as parts of Northern Africa.