Auburn University’s famous golden eagle mascot – Nova – has retired. Nova was War Eagle 7, and a new golden eagle named “Aurea” will be War Eagle 8. A ceremony marking the transition was held at halftime of Saturday’s football game with Samford University. Nova is twenty-years-old and is suffering from a serious heart condition. Nova was hatched in 1999 at the Montgomery Zoo and was non-releasable due to human imprinting. He came to Auburn in 2000, made his first pregame flight at the Kentucky game in 2004 and has appeared in almost 2,000 educational programs at the raptor center and at schools and conservation events around the Southeast.