The Auburn Tigers just got some bad news when it comes to their mascot. It was reported by ABC 33/40 earlier this week that Nova, Auburn’s war eagle mascot who is also known as War Eagle VII, could be in the early stages of heart failure. Nova, who is now 20 years old, came to Auburn in 2000 after being hatched in the Montgomery Zoo in Montgomery, Alabama. He became the team’s official war eagle in 2006.
As of now, Nova won’t be flying in any more football games because not flying will help reduce stress. Nova was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy in October which is chronic heart disease. Taking Nova’s place will be a five-year-old Aurea, a female golden eagle, and a 23-year-old female bald eagle named Spirit,
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Once fans heard the news about Nova, they went to Twitter to show their support. One fan said “Oh Nova I’m so sorry to hear. I pray that the adjustments to your meds will help your condition. I know you are in the best hands with the Vets and Andrew and his team. War Eagle.” Another fan said, “We know you’re in the best of hands and your vets and caregivers will be there for you in every way. War Eagle!!” And another fan said Eagle wings crossed for your recovery! Thank you for your service to the Spirit of the [Auburn] family! [WDE]”
Auburn has three home games remaining and all three will be played at their home field, Jordan-Hare Stadium. They are not playing this week, but when the Tigers return next week, they have a challenge on their hands as they will face the Georgia Bulldogs. This past weekend. Auburn earned a 20-14 win over Ole Miss. It wasn’t a pretty win by any means and head coach Guz Malzahn was not extremely happy after the game.
“Well, we won. I think that’s how you assess it,” Malzahn said per 247Sports. “We won the game. I’m proud of the fact we won the game, but we’ve got to clean some things up. The fact that you put up 500 yards against a pretty good defense, especially a good run defense, that’s good. We’ve just got to finish some things and put some points on the board. Give that bunch some credit. They came in here and they fought hard and they’re a good team.”
Auburn is currently 7-2 on the year and ranked No. 11 in the country.
