From the News: Owl at Minnesota Zoo eaten by a tiger after it flies away

Owl at Minnesota Zoo eaten by a tiger after it flies away

Free flight shows are one of the most spectacular of educational animal demonstrations.  There are few things more thrilling that watching a bird - especially a large bird - take flight.  The challenge, of course, is that once the jesses are loosed and the bird is in the air, it may not opt to fly to exactly where you intended it to.  And sometimes, it may land in a place where you (and the bird) will soon really, really wish it hadn't.  

(Nor is this the first time something like this has happened - a similar incident involved a macaw landing in a tiger exhibit at the Lincoln Children's Zoo in Nebraska.  Likewise, Minnesota Zoo had another Eurasian eagle owl, Gladys, fly off in 2021).

There is an enormous amount of risk assessment that goes into most animal care decisions in a zoo.  I think that ambassador birds that participate in free flight demonstrations are given tremendous opportunities for enrichment and improved welfare, as well as a special opportunity to make a connection with the public that visitors won't soon forget.  But still, that risk is always present...