From
Bird Calls, the newsletter of the Policy Council of the American Bird Conservancy
V2, No. 2, 1998

Bringing Back Lost New Yorkers -- Unscientifically
The New York City Parks Department’s Project X, which proposes to re-introduce two plant or animal species to five city parks every year, has been enthusiastically endorsed by the New York Times. But such attempts rarely succeed, even in relatively intact habitats -- let alone the urban environment. The Parks Department lacks resources for proper follow-up; the stated plan is “Let’s throw them out there and see if they survive.“ Nor is there an affiliation with a research institution that could perform monitoring. Opposition has fallen on deaf ears and comes not only from restoration ecologists, but from within the Parks Department itself. Planned re-introductions for 1998 include Eastern Screech-owls in Central Park and Bobwhites in Pelham Bay Park. Many believe the plan has more to do with photo opportunities than with sound science. Both the effort’s image and its chances for success would benefit from the creation of an advisory panel to ensure a more solid scientific framework than the present plan reveals...

That’s a very diplomatic statement of the objections. In fact, the 1998 releases didn’t work out as planned, leading to the current attempt. In all fairness, there seems to have been some response to the criticisms. This project supposedly has more scientific oversight, but the quality is not clear. I don’t really know too much about it beyond Park gossip; detailed information and protocols were not easily found on the internet. I understand that some owls have already been found dead, apparently through secondary poisoning from their prey. Another is said to have been hit by a car. The Park's administration has changed with the new mayoralty, and the future of the project is uncertain.