Flaco the owl doesn’t give a hoot after escaping NYC zoo, and officials say he can fly free for now

For two weeks, an owl that escaped from New York’s Central Park Zoo has been flying from treetop to treetop, unable to catch it and gathering many fans worried about its ability to survive on its own in the big city.

Will Flaco, the majestic Eurasian falcon, starve because he lacks the ability to hunt while in captivity?

With a collective sigh, the answer was no: It seems Flaco has acquired killer instincts and is an old hand at swooping down from his high perch to eat the rats in the park.

As a result, zoo officials announced that they are suspending the recovery operation, at least for now, but will keep the owl healthy.

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

The bird’s name means “skinny” in Spanish, and it seems he was in danger of living up to his name when he first escaped because he hadn’t been seen eating. But when he starts coughing up feathers and bones, it causes excitement – proof that he hunts and eats.

Officials admit that recovering Flaco has proven difficult, especially “because he has been very successful in hunting and consuming large amounts of prey in the park.”

The Eurasian eagle-owl is one of the larger owl species, with a wingspan of up to two meters (79 inches), according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. They have large talons and distinctive ear tufts.

Despite the evidence that Flaco had eaten rodents, the task of catching him continued.

Most recently, zoo officials tried to lure Flaco with bait and recordings of eagle calls. He showed some interest but didn’t fall for the ruse.

The search for Flaco was opened on February 2, after the discovery that vandals had cut stainless steel meshing in the bird’s enclosure.

Flaco has been around Upper Manhattan but hasn’t strayed from the park. He fled to a shopping center on Fifth Avenue, where police officers tried to arrest him and failed. He captivated audiences wherever he went, including visits to the park’s skating rink. Twitter was abuzz with the sighting, and the #freeflaco hashtag, as well as an online petition to set him free, took off.

“Flaco has been doing well in Central Park. And that’s amazing. He has made an incredible move from a captive owl to being in the wild faster than expected,” said David Barrett, who runs the Manhattan Bird Twitter account. Alert, Brooklyn Bird Alert and Bronx Bird Alert.

“They catch their own prey. They keep flying better and better,” he said. “He looks happy on the outside.”

Eurasian eagles are not native to North America, so Flaco had to fly across the ocean to find his own kind in the wild. He was less than a year old when he made his home at the Central Park Zoo in 2010.

Owls are generally solitary animals and usually only interact with other animals during mating season.

“Will he be quiet there? That’s a good question,” Barrett said.