Veterinarians have discovered that Nova, a golden eagle awarded the moniker of “War Eagle VII,” has a heart condition and will not be able to fly before Auburn home football games in 2017. “Spirit,” a bald eagle, will take over the pregame tradition at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
According to OANews.com, Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine faculty have diagnosed Nova with cardiomyopathy. The 18-year old golden eagle was found to have this chronic heart disease after undergoing a routine checkup.
Spirit has flown inside the stadium numerous times dating back to 2002.
Now that Nova is no longer taking part in the game day tradition, he will live out his days being monitored at the Southeastern Raptor Center, a division of Auburn’s College of Veterinary Medicine.