HOW LONG DOES WINTER LAST IF THE GROUNDHOG SEES THE SAHADOW OF DEATH?:

A week after Hizzoner dropped Staten Island Chuck in front of a crowd of spectators on Feb. 2, the winter-weather prognosticator died of internal injuries -- and then the coverup began, The Post has learned.

Staten Island Zoo officials went to great lengths to hide the death from the public -- and keep secret the fact that "Chuck" was actually "Charlotte," a female impostor, sources said Wednesday.

The zoo told a few Staten Island Zoo supporters, but claimed the groundhog died of natural causes.

The stand-in was found dead in her enclosure at the Staten Island Zoo on Feb. 9 -- and a necropsy determined she died from "acute internal injuries," sources said.

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