Animatronic Hawk Can Replace Seahawks Mascot: PETA Offers Gift
For Immediate Release:
January 16, 2026
Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382
Ahead of Saturday’s Divisional Round playoff game against archrival the 49ers, PETA sent a letter today to Seattle Seahawks Chair Jody Allen, urging her to make the team real champions for hawks by leaving mascot Taima out of noisy human events, and offering to help provide a state-of-the-art, crowd-pleasing animatronic hawk to replace him. PETA points out that a bird from the hot, dry habitat of East Africa is not well-suited to be hauled more than 500 miles round-trip to be released at the famously raucous Lumen Field.
“As someone who cares about conservation, you surely know that Super Bowl rings don’t matter to Taima, but his freedom does,” writes PETA President Tracy Reiman. “We understand that you will be passing the team to another party soon, and before you do, please work with us to leave a legacy of compassion for hawks.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
PETA’s letter to Allen follows.
January 15, 2026
Jody Allen
Chair
Seattle Seahawks
Greetings from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), where you have many Seattle Seahawks fans. As you prepare for Saturday’s game, I’m writing to urge you to be a champion for real hawks by leaving them out of Seahawks events. To help with the transition, PETA will help cover the cost of an animatronic animal instead. Please consider the following.
Taima is set to travel more than 500 miles round-trip to attend this weekend’s playoff game—a grueling commute for a wild animal. A stadium filled with tens of thousands of screaming fans, bright lights, and an amplified sound system is an unsuitable environment for any bird, especially a solitary species like the Augur hawk.
We greatly admire your philanthropy and passion for conservation, animals, and the environment, and we trust that you must be as interested as we are in the various ways in which modern technology can be used to improve the world for all of its inhabitants. Lumen’s previous immersive mixed reality video wowed the crowds in the stadium in October, and an animatronic hawk would be equally beloved by Seahawk fans.
As someone who cares about conservation, you surely know that Super Bowl rings don’t matter to Taima, but his freedom does.
We understand that you will be passing the team to another party soon, and before you do, please work with us to leave a legacy of compassion for hawks.
Thanks for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you. Go Seahawks!
Sincerely,
Tracy Reiman
President
