Charlotte, the groundhog that doubled for "Staten Island Chuck" on Groundhog Day, had died a week after she slipped from the grasp of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio during the celebration.

For fear that Chuck would bite de Blasio during the ceremony, zoo officials chose a groundhog named Charlotte among four potential doubles to replace him during a Groundhog Day ceremony held on February 9.

Like Us on Facebook

This was to prevent the Staten Island groundhog biting incident in 2009, where Chuck bit de Blasio's predecessor Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

After being handed to the mayor's heavily gloved hands, Charlotte struggled and inadvertently fell about six feet six inches (two meters) on solid concrete.

One week after, she was found dead by Staten Island Zoo keepers who believed that she had suffered from "acute internal injuries" that led to her demise.

According to reports, the creature's death was not immediately known to the mayor's office because zoo officials, who receive their funding from the city every year, kept quiet about it. In fact, they chose to inform people that Charlotte died of "natural causes."

"There was no reason to do it. It's not like we were trying to spare the mayor's feelings," Staten Island Zoo spokesperson Brian Morris stated.

However, zoo officials do not believe that the groundhog's death was in any way related to the Groundhog Day incident speculating that she might have suffered the additional fatal injuries hours before she died.

Medical examinations following the Groundhog Day fiasco revealed that Charlotte did not show "evidence of trauma or pain".

Meanwhile, the mayor's office expressed their sadness over the death of the groundhog adding that the mayor had been "unaware that Staten Island Chuck had passed".

The story of her death, first reported by the New York Post, had become viral over the Internet particularly the social media. Some users have been seen describing it as a 'spin-off' of Pennsylvania traditions where officials had to drag a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil from hibernation every 2nd of February.

According to the Pennsylvania custom, the northern part of the United States will have six more weeks of winter once Phil sees his shadow, otherwise, spring is about to arrive.

TagsStaten Island Zoo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Groundhog Day