The Superb Owl Is Gone

Fly free, Flaco

Flaco the Eurasian Owl lived most of his life in the zoo in Central Park, until some a**hole decided Flaco should be free, and made a hole in his enclosure, and Flaco went on a fly about. They tried to recapture him, but Flaco was having none of it. When they couldn’t catch him, many people feared he would not be long for this world, but Flaco fooled them all.

It turned out, Flaco was a very wise owl. Even though he grew up in captivity, his instincts for hunting and feeding himself were fully operational. I loved reading stories about how he was putting at least a large owl sized dent in the rat population, and how he would sometimes visit apartment balconies on the Upper West Side.

He survived for more than a year after his escape early last February. Many people were afraid he would eat a poisoned rat, but what did him in was a collision with a building.

A lot of people have an unwarranted bad opinion of zoos.

I understand it. People think animals should be wild and free. I know most of my cats were of this opinion. But we have to take into account of what we humans have done to the planet. We have degraded and destroyed much of the animals habitat. Even in so called wild places, our National Parks, our presence impacts and inhibits wildlife. During the early days of the pandemic when the parks shut down, animals reclaimed the spaces that people had usurped from them.

You may have noticed that I love pandas…

Since I am unlikely to ever see a panda in the wild, I’m really happy that I get to see them in zoos, and was fortunate enough to be able to take a trip to China to visit five different panda bases (aka panda ranches). Without the cooperation of zoos and biologists in China and around the world, pandas would still be on the endangered lists. People talk about panda diplomacy as if it solely exists in a political sense. But the cooperation between the people who study and care for pandas in China and around the world is an important, if quieter form of diplomacy.

I’ve found most of the people who don’t like zoos haven’t actually visited one in decades. It’s true that some early zoos were terrible places. Too small cages created unhappy, neurotic animals. But over the years, wild life biologists started instigating changes at zoos, creating exhibits that are spacious and mimic wild habitats. You may go to a zoo and never see the animal you are looking for because the animals have the option to hide in lush plantings, or retreat to their private spaces.

I’ve had the privilege of watching the panda nannies interact with their young charges, and the affection between bears and their caregivers is a wonderful experience to behold. I’ve had conversations with keepers and docents at the various zoos. They lead me to believe in the affectionate connection between the animals and those who care for them, as much as you might care for your dog or cat.

As long as we keep edging out animals from their habitats, we are going to have to compensate them by taking care of them. Like all complex issues in the world (I’m leaving those for other Noozletter writers today) there are lots of positive and negative things about captive animals. All I can say for now is I’m glad that I get to see pandas, and look forward to their return in San Diego and eventually in Washington DC. Would it be too much to ask that we get some in Seattle too?