We already knew that this Groundhog Day, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio accidentally dropped a woodchuck named “Staten Island Chuck” before a crowd of spectators.
What went unreported until Thursday is the fact that the groundhog died of internal injuries one week after being dropped. Moreover, the woodchuck was not actually the infamous “Staten Island Chuck,” and Staten Island Zoo officials covered up the death.
From the New York Post:
Zoo officials ordered staff to leave the mayor’s office out of the conspiracy.
“I was told he died of old age, that he went to that big farm in the sky,” Assemblyman Matthew Titone told the Post.
Despite the evidence, Zoo officials also tried to distance de Blasio’s role in Charlotte’s early demise.
“It appears unlikely that the animal’s death is related to the events on Groundhog Day,” a spokesman said.
