Annie, the beloved female peregrine falcon who lives at the UC Berkeley campus with her mate Grinnell, has gone missing.
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Cal Falcons, a group of bird experts who monitor the college's most famous birds, said with a heavy heart Monday that due to her week-long absence, Annie is most likely injured, killed or has abandoned the territory.
"It's incredibly difficult to say goodbye to Annie," Cal Falcons wrote in an Instagram post. "She was a wonderful mother and raised 13 chicks in five broods."
Annie and Grinnell have lived in the Campanile bell tower at UC Berkeley since 2016 and have gained a prominent following online. Avid followers of the falcon pair's lives were heartbroken to find out that Annie is unlikely to return.
"I know the circle of life and all that but it doesn't make it any less awful or heartbreaking... Annie," one Instagram user mourned.
"I know the world is falling to pieces, but our fav pair of falcons too?," another added.
In the wake of her disappearance, several new adult peregrines have begun exploring the Campanile and Grinnell has been seen soliciting courtship from an unbanded juvenile falcon.
"We don't believe the territory has settled at all, and there could still be a lot of turnover before the territory owners are decided," Cal Falcons said. "We are heartened that there are already new falcons exploring the Campanile, a testament to how well they've recovered from the brink of extinction."
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