Auctoritas 2,828 Posted November 22, 2019 Share Posted November 22, 2019 Long Live War Eagle VIII https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/28137618/auburn-retires-20-year-old-golden-eagle-mascot-nova Auburn is retiring its 20-year-old golden eagle mascot two years after it was grounded from flying at football games because of heart disease. A university statement issued Friday said the bird named Nova is being replaced by another golden eagle named Aurea that will become War Eagle VIII. A ceremony marking the transition is planned for Auburn's home game against Samford on Saturday. Nova has been sidelined since 2017 after being diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, which is a chronic heart disease. Nova the golden eagle flew at Auburn football games from 2004 to 2017. Nova made nearly 58 pregame flights since its debut in 2004, with the Tigers going 44-14 in those games. Veterinarian Seth Oster said in a statement that Nova will mostly be restricted to presentations at the university's raptor center. Aurea is a 5-year-old female with a more than 6.5-foot wingspan. Aurea was brought to the raptor center in 2016 with an injured wing. "Her flight stamina isn't quite good enough for her to be released into the wild, but it doesn't affect her flying in the stadium because she's not chasing a live animal," said Andrew Hopkins, assistant director of raptor training and education at Auburn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr82be 14,423 Posted November 22, 2019 Share Posted November 22, 2019 1 hour ago, Auctoritas said: Nova made nearly 58 pregame flights since its debut in 2004, with the Tigers going 44-14 in those games. Veterinarian Seth Oster said in a statement that Nova will mostly be restricted to presentations at the university's raptor center. Nova had a .758 winning percentage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sully to Beasley 643 Posted November 22, 2019 Share Posted November 22, 2019 Long live NOVA!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVR 818 Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 https://www.al.com/news/2019/11/auburn-retires-nova-war-eagle-vii-aurea-to-take-over.html Nice article on both Nova and Aurea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerpro2a 5,650 Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 Nova was one of my favs....probably because she is the one I have seen mostly. I would like to see what the winning percentages of each War Eagle is? I'd say Nova has to be among the best.....Is she available for HC position? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan4Auburn 1,626 Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 One of the best traditions. Remember the days when you could go to the Eagles Cage by Haley and watch them feed live chickens to Tiger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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