Duolingo ‘kills’ owl mascot Duo

R.I.P. Duo, the mascot of the language learning app Duolingo has died.

The company announced on social media on Tuesday, “It is with heavy hearts that we inform you that Duo, formally known as The Duolingo Owl, is dead.”

It said that his death is being investigated but “Tbh, he probably died waiting for you to do your lesson, but what do we know.”

On Wednesday morning, Duolingo said “Officials have identified a cause of death. More details to follow.”

A later post on TikTok showed a truck hitting the mascot in a parking lot, asking for the identity of the driver.

It also posted “In lieu of flowers, please do a Duolingo lesson.”

Other companies, such as Netflix, acknowledged Duo’s demise.

CNN in its headline covering the owl’s passing, took a page out of Monty Python’s book calling Duo an “ex-owl.”

Duolingo, which is based in Pittsburgh, confirmed to WPXI that the mascot is no more.

“We can confirm the statements in our recent social posts are true. It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved mascot, Duo the Owl. For years, he tirelessly reminded millions to do their language lessons—sometimes with gentle nudges, sometimes with sheer, unhinged persistence. But even the most relentless of birds can only take so much. Our app icon reflects this tragic loss with ‘Dead Duo.”

Duolingo was founded in 2011 and has more than 100 courses that teach more than 40 languages. It also has a version for schools, one for children to learn to read and write as well as variations that focus on math or music.

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