Flaco, a 13 year old Eurasian eagle-owl, escaped from the Central Park Zoo which is managed by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) on February 2, 2023. The small and sad enclosure where WCS kept him captive his entire life is reported to be about the size of a bus. Since liberating himself, Flaco has been living wild and free around different sections of Central Park. He is acclimating to life in the park and clearly enjoys his newly found freedom. He has shown his prowess and ability to hunt on his own. Swells of enthralled New Yorkers have followed Flaco’s escapade, cheering him on, observing and monitoring his well being.

Please join VFAR in calling on WCS to surrender ownership of Flaco and stop their efforts to recapture and cage him at the Central Park Zoo by signing and sharing this petition. If WCS succeeds in recapturing Flaco, he should be transferred to a wildlife refuge or sanctuary that can offer more suitable habitat than the Central Park Zoo.

There is no doubt Flaco is living his best life now. Yet, the Central Park Zoo has continued efforts to recapture him and return him to a pathetic cage. Zoo staff have tried to bait him with a live caged lab mouse, lure him with female owl recordings, and reportedly considered shooting him with a SuperSoaker filled with soapy water, risking injury and trauma. Of course, many fears remain about his ability to survive in the concrete jungle, and he will face challenges shared by all wildlife in New York City, like the threat of ingesting rat poison or collision with a vehicle. An obnoxious crowd can cause an owl stress, but at the zoo Flaco was confined and gawked at on a daily basis. His impact on the ecosystem remains to be seen.

Where is Flaco's "home"? Not the Central Park Zoo. What is in Flaco's best interest? Not returning to a miserable enclosure.

WCS’s goal has been to recover their property, not to “rescue” Flaco. True wildlife rescue organizations and sanctuaries don't keep healthy wildlife on display and confined in small cages and charge the public admission fees just to see them. WCS claims that Flaco’s well being is their main concern, but if that is truly the case, they should surrender ownership of Flaco and allow him to live the rest of his life in a more suitable habitat than the Central Park Zoo can offer.

Undermining the notion that the zoo is an educational forum, the public has not learned much about Flaco, his species, or conservation status. WCS has not even offered basic information, and the public has no access to Flaco’s records, and as a result nothing is known about how he first came to live at the zoo, his medical history, or daily care information, such as when, what, and how often he was fed at the zoo or seen by a veterinarian. There is little oversight of WCS, an organization with more than $1 billion dollars in assets, that gets millions of dollars in public and private funding annually, and is allowed to annex hundreds of acres of New York City parkland, privatizing access to precious green space, depriving New Yorkers and local wildlife. Despite this, WCS apparently isn't subject to New York's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), public audit, or even minimal review of its animal welfare conditions.

Flaco’s former cage could be used as space for rehabilitating injured wildlife. Despite their massive funding and resources, WCS has been nowhere to be found when New Yorkers have needed help with urban wildlife rescue emergencies. Last year the Central Park Zoo refused to offer any help to New Yorkers trying to rescue an injured bat at the zoo, and the year before that the Bronx Zoo refused calls seeking help with an injured wild turkey outside its front gate. New Yorkers are often desperate for help assisting injured urban wildlife and unsure where to turn. WCS should use its tremendous resources to support local urban wildlife rescue and rehabilitation efforts, not keep healthy wildlife in captivity.

Join us in calling on the Central Park Zoo and WCS to surrender ownership of Flaco the owl and stop their efforts to recapture and cage him at the Central Park Zoo. If WCS succeeds in recapturing Flaco, he should be transferred to a wildlife refuge or sanctuary that can offer more suitable habitat than the Central Park Zoo.