A new documentary titled Wild Inside chronicles the unusual year of Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped from the Central Park Zoo in 2023 and survived for over a year in Manhattan. The film, directed by Penny Lane, premieres this week in New York and at over 40 theaters nationwide.
Flaco's Escape and Survival
Flaco escaped in February 2023 after someone deliberately cut the mesh of his enclosure, where he had lived for 13 years. Zoo staff and birdwatchers feared for his wellbeing as he did not know how to hunt and had trouble flying. Attempts to lure him back with live lab rats were unsuccessful. However, Flaco eventually learned to hunt the city's rats, and after two weeks, zoo officials suspended efforts to recapture him.
"As the saying goes, if you can make it here, you'll make it anywhere," one news anchor commented.
Cultural Impact and Questions of Wildness
Flaco gained a cult following, with birdwatchers tracking his movements and fans getting tattoos in his honor. Lane said she felt compelled to tell his story because she, like many New Yorkers, was swept up in his magic. "Owls are uniquely magical creatures," she said. "They're associated with other worlds, these mystical realms. So the appearance of a creature like that in New York City ... it feels like kind of a fairytale."
The documentary intersperses interviews with New Yorkers who projected their own experiences onto Flaco, calling him a survivor and an immigrant success story. "Every New Yorker dreams of moving out of their tiny shitty apartment into a nicer neighborhood and Flaco did it," Seth Meyers joked on his show. Lane noted that for the local birding community, Flaco's story raised questions about the nature of wildness. "We were watching a zoo animal transform into a wild animal before our eyes," she said.
Tragic End and Legacy
Flaco's story did not have a fairytale ending. Just over a year after his escape, he crashed into a building on West 89th Street and died. A necropsy found he had been weakened by pigeon herpes virus and exposed to anticoagulants from rodenticide. "I was devastated," Lane said, as she had planned to film Flaco for his entire life. She and the naturalists in the film grappled with whether Flaco would have been better off never escaping. "You can't help but feel guilty and implicated," she added. "You loved seeing him so much, but you knew in the back of your mind all the while that this was not a safe place for him."
Months after his death, the city council approved "Flaco's law," a pilot scheme using rat contraceptives instead of poison. Lane reflected on the magic Flaco brought: "There are certain places in New York City that will forever be changed for me by his existence in those places."
