Air Force’s mascot, a 22-year-old white gyrfalcon name Aurora, was injured after she was kidnapped in a prank by West Point cadets in the run-up to a college football game this weekend.
Troy Garnhart, the associate athletic director for communications at the Air Force academy, told the Colorado Springs Gazette that Aurora had been taken from a colonel’s house before the annual rivalry game between Air Force and Army on Saturday. Army were hosting the game between the two military academies at Michie Stadium and won 17-14.
“USAFA mascot Aurora was injured over the weekend and is being transported back to Colorado,” academy spokesman Lt Col Tracy Bunko told the Gazette. “We have specialists at the academy who have the best training and facilities for her care. She is part of our academy family and we are all hoping for her full and speedy recovery.”
An academy source told the Gazette that Aurora may have to be euthanized due to her advanced age – gyrfalcons typically live to around 25 – but it was later confirmed she was able to fly and should return to full health. Sam Dollar, the Air Force Academy’s falconry team adviser, told the New York Times that Aurora had had a sweater thrown over her and was then stuffed into a dog crate. It is believed she injured her wings while trying to escape from the crate. Another bird was also taken in the kidnapping but did not sustain injuries.
“I think they had them for a couple hours and then they realized it was a bad mistake,” Dollar said. “When Aurora started thrashing around in the crate, they decided that wasn’t a good thing.”
A West Point spokeswoman apologized for the incident on Sunday. “US Military Academy sincerely apologizes for an incident involving USMA cadets and the Air Force Academy falcons,” she said. “One of the birds was injured and the matter is currently under investigation. We are taking this situation very seriously.”
The US Navy and Army academies have a long history of stealing each other’s mascots – goats and mules respectively. However, no one had ever stolen Air Force’s falcon before.