Central Park Zoo stops search for eagle owl named Flaco that escaped in Manhattan

The Central Park Zoo has announced that it will stop trying to capture an owl that escaped from its enclosure after vandals broke open its metal cage.

For two weeks, Skinny, a majestic Eurasian eagle owl, has flown from treetop to treetop, eluding capture and amassing legions of fans worried about his ability to survive alone in the big city.

Would Skinny, a majestic Eurasian eagle owl, go hungry because it hadn’t developed the ability to hunt while in captivity?

With a collective sigh of relief, the answer was a resounding no: Skinny seems to have regained his killer instincts and is becoming an expert at swooping down from his perch to feed on the park’s abundance of rats.

As a result, zoo officials announced they would suspend recovery operations, at least for now, but will keep a close eye on the owl’s health.

“We will continue to monitor Flaco and his activities and will be prepared to resume recovery efforts if he shows any signs of distress or distress,” zoo officials said in a statement.

The bird’s name means ‘skinny’ in Spanish, and it appeared that it was in danger of living up to its name in the early days of its escape because it had not been seen eating.

But when he began to cough up skin and bones, it aroused enthusiasm, proof that he had been hunting and eating.

Authorities acknowledged that Flaco’s recovery proved difficult, especially “since he has been very successful hunting and consuming the abundant prey in the park.”

The Eurasian eagle-owl is one of the largest owl species, with a wingspan of up to 79 inches, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. They have large claws and distinctive ear tufts.

Despite the evidence that Skinny had been eating rodents, the task of capturing him continued.

More recently, zoo officials tried to lure Skinny with baits and recordings of eagle owl calls. He showed some interest, but didn’t fall for it.

The search for Flaco was launched on February 2 after the discovery that vandals had cut through the stainless steel mesh in the bird’s enclosure.

Skinny has made his rounds in upper Manhattan, but he hasn’t strayed too far from the park.

He flew to the nearby Fifth Avenue shopping center, where the policemen tried to catch him and failed.

He wowed audiences wherever he went, including a visit to the park’s skating rink.

Twitter has been abuzz with sightings, and the hashtag #freeskinny, as well as an online petition to keep him free, soon took off.

‘Flaco has done well in Central Park. And that’s amazing. It has made a remarkable change from being a captive owl to being in the wild much faster than anyone would have expected,” said David Barrett, who runs the birding Twitter accounts Manhattan Bird Alert, Brooklyn Bird Alert and Bronx Bird. alert.

It is hunting prey on its own. It just keeps flying better and better,’ she said. Looks like she’s having fun out there.

Eurasian eagle-owls are not native to North America, so Skinny would have to fly across the ocean to find his own in the wild. He was less than a year old when he moved into the Central Park Zoo in 2010.

Owls are mostly solitary animals and typically only interact with one other animal during the breeding season.

‘Is he going to get lonely out there? That’s a good question,’ Barrett said.