A falcon that served as a mascot for the U.S. Air Force Academy for the past 23 years has died.
The academy announced Aurora’s death Wednesday, saying she was the longest-serving live mascot in the school’s 65-year history.
Aurora was a white phase gyrfalcon, a falcon species that is rare in the wild. Three percent of all falcons are gyrfalcons, and 1 percent of those are white, according to the school's falconry page.
Aurora had recovered from injuries to both wings in 2018 during a prank abduction before the annual football game against the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.