The Eagle Has Landed (for the last time)

For over twenty years, visitors to Cincinnati Reds games have been treated to the sight of Sam the Eagle, one of the team's  mascots.  Sam's been getting old, however, and has been experiencing decreasing vision quality, so the decision has been made to retire him.  He will spend the rest of his days at his home at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Sam isn't the only zoo animal mascot that has graced a sports stadium.  Until fairly recently, the Baltimore Ravens had their home games visited by Rise and Conquer from the Maryland Zoo, while the Tampa Rays have a ray tank... which is a little weird, because I've never been 100% sure if their name is supposed to refer to rays, the fish, or rays, from the sun - their logos have reflected both over the years.  Heck, in the 1960's, the Miami Dolphins actually had a dolphin on display in their tank, which formed a basis of the movie Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (set decades after the fact).

So far no NFL or MLB team has built a massive exhibit for a big cat or bear mascot at the site of their stadium... but LSU has for their famous tiger, Mike!

There's not much in the way of an obvious real connection between a sports mascot and the actual live animal.  When the opportunity exists, however, it can allow zoos to tap into a pre-existing audience to generate some interest, some enthusiasm, and maybe even some funds for the conservation of an iconic animal.

Perhaps some enterprising athlete in Anaheim would even be up for digging a duck pond outside their stadium?