MN Zoo's 'Beloved Ambassador' Gladys Dies After Being Injured

APPLE VALLEY, MN — Two days after Minnesota Zoo officials asked residents to be on the lookout for its Eurasian eagle owl, Gladys, they announced Thursday that the beloved member of the zoo community has died after being found injured on the side of a local road.

Zoo officials wrote in a social media Thursday that a local resident had discovered Gladys injured and had brought her back to the zoo. The zoo’s veterinary team prepared to give her medical care, but that Gladys had already died.

“We’d like to thank the community for the tremendous outpouring of support and information they provided to aide in the search for Gladys, the social media post read.

The zoo reported earlier this week that Gladys had flown off during a training flight earlier this month but had not returned to her handler. They expected Gladys to be within the 485-acre forested Zoo property and had that zoo officials had been tracking her location around the facility.

Zoo officials did not say the type of injuries Gladys sustained. Earlier this week, Tony Fisher, the zoo’s director of animal collections, told Kare 11 that residents would immediately know Gladys if they saw her as she would be the biggest owl they’ve ever seen.

Eurasian eagle owls have a wingspan of up to six feet and have piercing orange eyes, the zoo told the station. In the social media post, zoo officials thanked members of its animal care and animal care team for searching for Gladys after she went missing.

“For the last five years, Gladys has been a beloved ambassador of her species in the bird show,” the zoo’s social media post Thursday read. “The Animal Team hand-raised her from a chick and worked with her daily. This is a difficult day for our team. Whenever an animal dies, we feel the impact of that loss as a Zoo community.”