LSU criticized after bringing caged live tiger into stadium before defeat to Alabama
kraken2trfqodidvlh4aa337cpzfrhdlfldhve5nf7njhumwr7instad No. 15 LSU has been criticized for unveiling a live caged tiger in its stadium for the first time in almost a decade before they were routed 42-13 by No. 11 Alabama in their SEC showdown.
Ahead of “The First Saturday in November,” a live tiger named Omar Bradley, owned by Florida resident Mitchel Kalmanson, was brought out in an enclosed cage with a black curtain over it, before the stadium lights went dark and a spotlight flashed onto the cage as it was unveiled.
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The tiger laid down and then paced around his cage, which was attached to a truck, while photographers crowded around it, still keeping their distance. After a few minutes, the cage was slowly driven off the field at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
LSU has a long tradition of bringing caged tigers into the stadium on gamedays but, since 2015, the school has moved away from this and instead keeps its current live tiger mascot named Mike VII in a 15,000-square-foot enclosure on campus.
But Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry pushed for the return of this tradition, much to the frustration of the LSU community, which circulated several petitions against the practice which gathered more than 27,000 signatures between them by Sunday morning.
Footage posted on social media also showed protesters outside the stadium holding placards with slogans including, “Justice for Omar” and “Did Tiger King teach us nothin’.”
For Landry, having a live tiger on the field was all about “tradition,” he told FOX News on Friday.
“This is about from Mike One through Six, we have had a live mascot on the field like many other colleges have before,” he said.
