LITTLE ROCK — If he could talk, Tucson the Harris hawk would have a lot to say about spending the past five weeks on the lam from the Little Rock Zoo.
After the raptor flew the coop Feb. 21, zoo officials hoped hunger would force Tucson to return home as he stayed in the area for several days. As time passed, any hope of his return dimmed.
Startled by construction noise, the bird crashed through netting over his enclosure and took wing. About March 14, Tucson turned up just outside Tulsa about 318 miles away in Bartlesville, Okla.
A week later, Joe Darcangelo, a curator at the zoo, got a call that Tucson had been found.
“When I got the call from this guy saying ‘I got your bird,’ I thought it was a practical joke,” Darcangelo said. “Honestly, I was delighted and quite shocked.”
Susan Altrui, a spokesman for the zoo, said a landowner noticed Tucson resting on his lawn.
“The landowner approached the bird and was surprised that he didn’t fly away,” she said.
Thinking the bird could be injured, the owner called a raptor rescuer in the area who then called Ryan Van-Zant, president of the Oklahoma Falconers’ Association, she said.
When VanZant arrived, Tucson immediately jumped on VanZant’s gloved arm as the bird is trained to do, Darcangelo said.
Upon seeing that the animal had an identification band and anklets, VanZant figured a falconer had lost the bird. He began calling members of the Oklahoma Falconers’ Association to see if he could identify the owner but had no luck, Altrui said.
When VanZant posted a message on the association’s website about the missing bird, Rusty Scarborough, a member of the Arkansas Hawking Association, saw the post.
Scarborough had seen a post on the Arkansas Hawking Association’s website by Darcangelo, also a member of the group, asking members to be on the lookout for Tucson.
Trey Raglin, a trainer for the zoo’s Wild Wonders program attending college in Fayetteville, picked up the bird from VanZant in Bartlesville.Zoo Director Mike Blakely then made the trip to Fayetteville on Sunday to retrieve Tucson, Altrui said.
Tucson is part of the zoo’s Wild Wonders Animal Show and is trained to fly glove-toglove over audience members’ heads.
“Because of his speed and maneuvers, it’s fair to say he’s an audience favorite,” Altrui said.
The hawk is native to the southwestern part of the country and has lived at the Little Rock Zoo since 2001 when hewas donated by Scarborough, she said.
Darcangelo said Tucson is in a 30-day quarantine period, which is typical for any animal that’s new to the zoo or, as in this case, being reintroduced. He’ll undergo several examinations to ensure he’s not carrying a disease that could spread to other animals.
“He appears to be very healthy,” Darcangelo said. “His weight is normal. He’s eating normal and he’s very talkative. He seems to have a lot to say about his journey.”
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 03/28/2012