For one of their biggest games of the season, LSU is taking their “Tigers” team name pretty literally.
As the program gets set to face No. 11 Alabama on Saturday night, LSU will have a live tiger on-site at Tiger Stadium as part of the game day festivities, which includes an appearance by ESPN's "College GameDay."
LSU’s “Mike VII,” also known as “Mike the Tiger,” has been the team’s official live mascot since he took over the role in 2017. But there’s some animal-related drama for the matchup against the Crimson Tide. Is the tiger at Saturday’s game Mike VII or another tiger?
Here’s what to know about if Mike VII is attending LSU vs. Alabama, why the team is bringing in a live animal for the game and other details on LSU’s longtime mascot, “Mike the Tiger.”
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Is Mike VII at the LSU game?
The tiger at Saturday’s LSU vs. Alabama game is not Mike VII.
A Bengal tiger named Omar Bradley will be in Baton Rouge for the ranked matchup, per the Louisiana Illuminator. Bradley is 1.5 years old and owned by Mitchel Kalmanson, an operator of an insurance company that specializes in exotic animals.
Mike VII, meanwhile, has never attended an LSU game. He does officially represent the school as a live mascot but doesn’t travel anywhere.
The history of “Mike the Tiger” at LSU began in 1934, and there have now been seven different live tigers to represent the school’s team name and athletic programs. In the past, there have been “Mikes” that have traveled to be on the sidelines for an LSU football game, but when Mike VII was adopted, the school stopped the tradition of bringing a live tiger to games.
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LSU live tiger, explained
Per the Louisiana Illuminator story, Jeff Landry, the governor of Louisiana, has had a wish of bringing back the live tiger at LSU games.
“Reviving the tradition” by having Mike VII on site in Baton Rouge has been an ongoing project and discussion between Landry, state lawmakers and LSU’s veterinary school, but there were concerns about bringing Mike VII himself to the game. Instead, the idea continued by bringing in a second tiger, which will be Omar Bradley this weekend.
Because Mike VII, the official live mascot for the Tigers, isn’t the one at Saturday’s game, his official X account threw a little shade at the “phony” tiger that will be on site.
Tiger stripes are unique (like fingerprints) so you can tell the difference between different tigers. pic.twitter.com/pHi4huU3kW
— Mike VII (@MikeTheTiger) November 7, 2024
The story also says that the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which is opposed to the tiger’s appearance at LSU vs. Alabama, has a list of citations from federal authorities that Bradley’s owner, Kalmanson, has received in the past for “substandard conditions in which he housed and transported animals.” Kalmanson has also leased tigers for circuses in the past.
PETA released an official statement on LSU having a tiger in its stadium on Saturday.
“It’s shameful and out of touch with today’s respect for wild species that LSU has bowed to Gov. Jeff Landry’s campaign to display a live tiger at its football games to amuse the fans. 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.
“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.”
How old is Mike VII?
Mike VII is an eight-year-old tiger. Per the “Mike the Tiger” website, Mike VII was born on Sept. 13, 2016, and he was first introduced to the LSU community in August 2017.
Mike VII also has “both Siberian and Bengal characteristics,” and he was donated to LSU by a sanctuary in Florida.
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Mike VII habitat
Mike VII has an enclosed habitat on LSU’s campus, which falls between Tiger Stadium and the home of LSU’s basketball teams, the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The habitat was built in 2005 and cost $3.7 million as “Mike the Tiger” received a home on the college campus. Per the mascot’s website, the habitat was built with a 15,000-square-foot environment, an oak tree and a waterfall.
When Mike VII was set to arrive in 2017, LSU upgraded the habitat with “a comfort rock, rockwork tree, improved water features, and resurfacing of the pool.”