NEW YORK — The groundhog that slipped from Mayor Bill de Blasio’s grasp during this year’s Staten Island Zoo Groundhog Day ceremony died a week after the fall.
The rodent, which had predicted six more weeks of winter before tumbling several feet from the mayor’s hands, was not the zoo’s famed Staten Island Chuck, but rather a stand-in named Charlotte.
Moreover, the zoo did not notify the mayor’s office of the death, which was reported by the New York Post. The story electrified social media Thursday, prompting a flood of Twitter jokes about a #Groundhoghazi coverup and de Blasio’s possible impeachment.
Zoo spokesman Brian Morris said a medical examination given after the incident found “no evidence of trauma or pain.” But the animal was found dead several days later, on Feb. 9, of internal injuries.
