The New York Post reports that the Staten Island Zoo "went to great lengths to ... keep secret" the fact that a groundhog New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio dropped during a Groundhog Day ceremony, died of internal injuries a week later.Staten Island Zoo officials went to great lengths to hide the death from the public -- and keep secret the fact that "Chuck" was actually "Charlotte," a female impostor, sources said Wednesday.
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.
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.
The accident occurred February 2nd during a ceremony familiar to anyone who has seen the movie "Groundhog Day" Wearing protective gloves in front of a gathered crowd and news photographers, New York's very tall mayor couldn't keep hold of the nervous animal. According to reports at the time, Staten Island Chuck "squirmed right out of the mayor's hands and fell on his noggin."
Editors from Politico and The New York Times mocked the Post's investigation into the Staten Island Zoo's cover-up because de Blasio is a Democrat and Democrats sure got it good.