In a tragic and bizarre turn of events, it has come to light that Staten Island Chuck, the groundhog accidentally dropped by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio this past February 2, died of “acute internal injuries” a week after the botched Groundhog Day ceremony. What’s more, Staten Island “Chuck” was actually a “Charlotte”:
The stand-in was found dead in her enclosure at the Staten Island Zoo on Feb. 9 — and a necropsy determined she died from “acute internal injuries,” sources said.
She had fallen nearly 6 feet when the mayor lost his grip during the Groundhog Day photo op. Sources said her injuries were consistent with a fall.
The Staten Island Zoo, which receives a large amount of funding from the city, then proceeded to cover up the death:
Instead of revealing the sad loss, the zoo — which gets nearly half of its $3.5 million in annual funding from the city — told the staff to keep the mayor’s office in the dark about the animal’s fate.
They told only a few zoo supporters — but claimed that the groundhog had died of natural causes.
“I was told he died of old age, that he went to that big farm in the sky,” said Assemblyman Matthew Titone (D-SI), who later learned how the animal had died.
If only there were some way de Blasio could repeat the day so that “Chuck”/Charlotte wouldn’t end up falling this time . . .