Zoo Denies Luring Fugitive Owl With Lady Bird

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Is the only way to catch an escaped Eurasian eagle owl to use another Eurasian eagle owl?

According to the Central Park Zoo: no.

Rumors circulated around social media that zoo officials were contemplating using a female eagle owl as a honey trap for Flaco, whose resilience and splendor has captivated bird lovers around the world.

Classic honey trap don’t fall for it Falco https://t.co/mbtE4Zu3K9
— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) February 17, 2023

The planned use of an attractive lady owl was even referenced in a petition urging the zoo to allow Flaco to remain free, with nearly 1,000 signatures as of Friday morning.

While officials denied that a honey trap was in their owl-retrieval contingency strategy, the zoo did confirm that they have tried a sucralose trap.

Officials said Friday morning that they had attempted to lure Flaco with the use of eagle owl recordings, since his impressive — and improving — hunting skills in Central Park have left traditional bait methods mostly useless.

"Though he showed some interest in the calls," the zoo said, "the attempt was unsuccessful."

The zoo said they will continue to monitor Flaco and will be ready to rescue the owl if he shows signs of distress.

When Flaco first escaped on Feb. 2 due to a vandal intentionally damaging his enclosure, many bird lovers flocked to catch a glimpse of the exotic owl on the lam.

At the same time, an uneasy tension wracked the humans behind the binoculars and 600mm camera lenses as many wondered if Flaco, who has his whole life in captivity, would be able to hunt, or even have the wing strength to survive the Big Apple.

But last weekend, Flaco proved the doubters wrong by helping himself to some (presumably) delicious rodents, which one Flaco fan called a "success story."

Since then, according to the zoo, "he has been very successful at hunting and consuming the abundant prey in the park."

But danger still lurks for Flaco.

Cars kill many owls every year as they fly low to the ground hunting their prey.

And rats, a top owl meal, can be potentially filled to their birches with rodenticide.

Poison-infused rats allegedly played a role in the death of another beloved Central Park strigiformes, Barry the barred owl, who died in 2020.

For now, Flaco will continue to live rent-free in Central Park — and in our hearts.