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Why Are Seemingly Healthy Hawks Dying In NYC Parks?
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 10, 2012
Modified Mar 10, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 10, 2012
Modified Mar 10, 2012
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At least three seemingly healthy, uninjured hawks have died in the last two weeks in NYC parks, and experts are scrambling to try to figure out why, and if there is anything that can end the trend: "They all appeared to be healthy and didn't have any traumatic injuries," Bobby Horvath, a wildlife rehabilitator, told the Daily News. "It's not like they were hit by a car or crashed into a building."
Yesterday, a female hawk who had nested in Riverside Park for years was found by an urban park ranger dead under the tree where she nested. Last week, a red-tailed hawk was found dead in a section of Central Park near Columbus Circle last Sunday. Less than two weeks ago, Pale Male's lover Lima was found dead in Central Park.
Horvath added that a fourth hawk was found stumbling in the northern part of Central Park several weeks ago; it died 24 hours later. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is conducting tests on the dead birds to determine if they had been poisoned by anything (like a poisoned rat), but Horvath adds that it's too soon to tell if it's in the parks or not: "They birds aren't married to these parks, they hunt outside," he said. "High-rise buildings and restaurants still use poison."
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central park
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parks
riverside park
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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