On Saturday, when Louisiana State University (LSU) takes on rival University of Alabama in a massive matchup in its home field in Baton Rouge, there will reportedly be a caged, live tiger on the sidelines, reviving a decades-old school tradition.
LSU’s mascot is a tiger. The school’s tradition dates back to the 1930s but hasn’t happened since 2015, after the previous mascot Mike VI died in 2016.
Last month, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said he wanted to bring back the mascot, and while LSU pushed back on the idea, Surgeon General Ralph Abraham, who is also a veterinarian, helped Landry lobby the university, even setting up an unofficial committee.
The plan has sparked outrage from those concerned about the animal and the chaos it could cause, as well as condemnation from animal activist group PETA, which previously sent Landry a letter arguing that “tigers are naturally solitary animals who don’t belong in rowdy football stadiums.”
A young Bengal tiger named Omar Bradley is being flown in from Florida to attend Saturday’s game instead of LSU’s current official mascot, Mike VII, according to State Senator Bill Wheat. That’s because the university said it would stop the tradition when they adopted the cub in 2017. (Meanwhile, Omar’s owner Mitchel Kalmanson has had a number of complaints filed against him for his treatment of animals.)
PETA called the plan “idiotic,” “shameful,” and “out of touch with today’s respect for wild species.”
“LSU rightly ended this idiotic, archaic practice nearly a decade ago after recognizing that it was cruel to subject a sensitive big cat to the noise, lights, and crowds in a football stadium,” said Klayton Rutherford, associate director of captive wildlife research at the PETA Foundation, in a statement. “Whether the tiger is confined to campus or shipped in from elsewhere, no reputable facility would subject a tiger to such chaos and stress, and PETA and nearly 50,000 of its supporters have already called on Landry to let up and leave big cats alone—and are now urging LSU to grow a spine and just say no.”
Additionally, more than 7,000 people have signed a petition urging the governor to call off the plan.