Could a live tiger pace LSU sideline again?

It has been said that football is the modern equivalent of ancient
gladiator games. With coliseum-like stadiums, oodles of violence and
fans calling for blood (especially in Philadelphia), it’s hard to argue with this
sentiment. The only thing missing, perhaps, is dangerous animals.

Prior to the 2023 NFL season, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Cambell aimed to change that by having a real-life lion on the sidelines during games. Alas, the stuffed shirts in the NFL
head offices frowned upon the idea and it never happened.

A similar idea was recently proposed for the LSU Tigers, who — you may have guessed — wanted to have a tiger attend home games. One of the proponents was Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, who was aiming to resurrect a tradition. For decades, the school had various tigers brought out in trailers for both home and away games, but this ended in 2015.

LSU’s current live mascot is Mike VII, who was donated in
2017. Mike has yet to make it to a game, instead living full-time in a habitat
on campus, and unfortunately, it looks like he won’t anytime soon. After Landry
and three state officials who are also veterinarians met with the dean of LSU’s
School of Veterinary Medicine, it was decided that the tiger should stay where it is. The stress of being moved, along with a loud and raucous crowd, were
cited as reasons why Mike shouldn’t make an appearance. Said state representative
Wayne McMahen, who was in the meeting:

“If you had a young tiger — and that’s one of the things I
told the governor — you know, you had a young tiger that was trained to handle
those situations. But to take a middle-aged tiger that has been captive in a
certain way … I think it’d be a struggle.”

Another reason could be related to the criticism LSU has
received from animal rights groups. PETA, for example, has routinely protested that
the school even has a live animal on campus at all, and parading it around a
football stadium would almost certainly welcome backlash.

In
an intriguing subplot to this tiger story, McMahen thinks that the governor is
only interested in Mike being at games because a major LSU donor wants it to
happen. This could mean that this saga isn’t over just yet.