LSU’s student senate unanimously passed a resolution on Wednesday night pushing for LSU leadership to ban all live tigers at LSU moving forward.
The senate sent the resolution to school president William F. Tate IV, athletic director Scott Woodward and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry.
Landry’s lengthy campaign to bring live tigers back to Death Valley culminated earlier this month with a tiger returning to the stadium for the first time since 2016. However, LSU declined to make Mike VII, the school mascot who lives in an on-campus habitat, available for recognition in pregame. Landry elected to find a tiger named Omar Bradley from an animal talent agency in Florida owned by Mitchel Kalmanson, who has been a frequent target of PETA criticism and twice had tigers under his care escape.
Landry said Monday that whether or not a Tiger would return to the sidelines after Saturday would be up to the people of Louisiana.
The tiger was on the field in pregame for around 5-10 minutes and put under a spotlight while the stadium lights were off. He was greeted by mostly cheers but some boos as well.
“After nearly universal public condemnation over this stupid stunt, the LSU student government’s unanimous response drives home the point that only one person thought it was a good idea to bring a stressed tiger to a noisy football game: Louisiana’s Tiger King wannabe governor, Jeff Landry, who didn’t even attend LSU,” PETA Associate Director of Captive Wildlife Research Klayton Rutherford said in a statement provided to The Athletic, adding that they were sending vegan chocolates to LSU’s student senate as a thank you. “Landry’s desperate bid for attention backfired spectacularly, and PETA hopes he’s learned his lesson and will leave tigers alone.”
LSU lost to Alabama, 42-13, on Saturday night and Landry defended his efforts to return the tradition at an event outside New Orleans on Monday.
“Our tiger, our live tiger, unfortunately, disappointingly, was the only tiger who showed up Saturday. I’m sorry,” Landry said.
The tradition of a live tiger named Mike living on campus began in 1936. He was a frequent visitor to the sidelines, often sitting in a cage outside the opposing locker room.
After Mike VI died in 2016, the school elected to end the tradition, which had long come under fire from animal rights groups. PETA called the practice “archaic,” “idiotic” and “cruel.”
NOLA.com reported on Monday that no LSU or state money was used to bring the tiger back to the sidelines.
“I had more people come up to me, and they remembered Mike the Tiger more than some of the great plays in Tiger Stadium,” Landry told the crowd Monday night. “And they grew up as children seeing this. It’s about tradition. At the end of the day, these woke people have tried to take tradition out of this country. It’s tradition that built this country.”
(Photo: Stephen Lew / Imagn Images)
