The exhibition takes up half of a long, narrow space that could more accurately be called “a hallway.” But it tells Flaco’s story in satisfying detail. Flaco escaped from the Central Park Zoo when an unknown vandal cut open the mesh of his enclosure. Though zoo employees initially made several attempts to recapture Flaco, mostly out of concern for his ability to care for himself in the “wild” (New York City), they gave up because he was evading them so well and because he started hunting and seemed to be enjoying his exciting new life. He mostly roamed Central Park, but in the fall of 2023, he took a few trips downtown. One day he was photographed sitting on the fire escape of a building on the Upper West Side. At the exhibition, this image—-and the idea of such an encounter—nearly brought me to tears. Imagine if that had happened to you! (Imagine if that had happened to me!) The luck of some people.
A very NYC take on a dead owl. I see it as a case of biophiles trapped in NYC reaching for any connection to nature and the wild. Like with parks and trees, nature is very important for health and well being. I see studies on it all the time.