Flaco the Eurasian eagle owl’s symbolic journey from a captive at the Central Park Zoo to a freed owl, roaming New York City, captured the attention and hearts of both locals and animal lovers across the globe and garnered sympathy for captive animals as people rooted for Flaco to remain free. He tragically passed away after what is suspected to have been a window strike and possible rodenticide poisoning. 

His life and journey ended when his body was found in an apartment building courtyard. The injuries he sustained were indicative of a window strike, an all-too-common ending for birds living among or passing through heavy human development.

While an initial necropsy conducted by Wildlife Conservation Society determined he died of an “acute traumatic injury,” further testing in the coming weeks will determine whether other factors, such as disease or exposure to rodenticides or other toxins, may have contributed to his death. Whatever the outcome, Flaco’s tragic death highlights the need for a change in the way we design buildings, and mitigate and perceive conflicts with wild animals.

Anticoagulant rodenticides can take days to kill rats, mice, and other small rodents. During this time, these poisoned animals become easier prey for predators, allowing rodenticides to make their way through the food chain, causing terrible suffering as well as additional harm to non-target species. In Defense of Animals’ recent alert that is still open for people to sign urged the mayor of New York City to cease his “war on rats” and instead focus on preventative mitigation strategies like proper waste disposal. Our alert warned of the dangers rodenticides posed to Flaco.

Flaco will be sorely missed by New Yorkers and bird lovers around the world. In honor of his life, we must vow to do better by ending the use of anticoagulant rodenticides and updating our window designs to protect future birds of prey from meeting the same untimely fate that Flaco did. 

Hopefully, things will soon change. In an effort to honor Flaco’s legacy lawmakers are now pushing for two pieces of legislation that would protect birds in New York City, where it’s estimated close to a quarter of a million birds die annually as a result of collisions with buildings.

The Bird Safe Buildings Act, which is being renamed the FLACO Act, would require new state buildings, or any being significantly altered, to incorporate bird-friendly designs with a particular focus on windows. The Dark Skies Protection Act would also help countless migratory birds who travel at night by requiring non-essential outdoor lights to be covered by a shield, be motion-activated, or turned off between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.

To find out more about how you can help protect wildlife, visit our Wild Animals campaign. Please consider making a donation to support our work.