Bring out the Bengal tiger!
LSU is tapping into its legacy by bringing back a live tiger ahead of its marquee matchup against the Alabama Crimson Tide this Saturday. This will be the first time the school has brought in a living, breathing version of its since 2015.
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Gov. Jeff Landry spearheaded the move after first bringing up the idea, hoping that his alma mater would consider having a real tiger in the stadium like when he was a student on campus. The school followed suit and will now bring in a 1.5-year-old tiger.
There have been back-and-forth discussions between the state, the school, and animal rights groups such as PETA over the legality and humanity of having a tiger serve as a living mascot in front of 100,000-plus fans in what is sure to be a very loud and raucous stadium.
PETA Foundation associate director of captive wildlife research, Klayton Rutherford, is none too pleased over the decision. He told The Illuminator that the move is concerning.
“It’s shameful and out of touch with today’s respect for wild species that LSU has bowed to Gov. Landry’s campaign to display a live tiger at its football games to amuse the fans,” he explained.
LSU has had real tigers at games before but it’s been decades. They have a tiger named Mike who lives by the campus but doesn’t attend games.
The reason Mike isn’t being brought in is due to age. A younger tiger is more easily trained to handle a situation like attending a massive football game. It’s also difficult to take Mike out of a location he has grown to become accustomed to.
“As you would expect, it would be very difficult to be able to try to move Mike out of an area he’s never been out of,” Landry said per NOLA.com.
LSU’s history with live tigers goes back to 1958, the first time one ever attended a football game. The tradition lived on until 2015 out of concern for the animal’s health and well-being.
Sports can make people do some crazy things… like having a state’s governor so passionately fighting to have a live, wild animal on the sideline of their favorite team’s games.
