re: How are other live mascots able to take the field but Mike has to stay in his kitty lair?

LSU and his caretakers made a decision that is not going to change no matter how much people whine about it. Why people bring this up almost weekly during football season is beyond me. It goes nowhere. Get over it and go see Mike in his habitat. We are the only university with a live tiger living on campus in an extremely impressive habitat. I'm grateful we still have that.

Here's the statement released some years ago. Deal with it.

"BATON ROUGE – David Baker, DVM, Ph.D., LSU’s attending veterinarian, is continuing to search for a tiger. As with Mike VI, Dr. Baker is seeking a young, male tiger. Starting in April 2017, the tiger habitat will undergo renovations, which are scheduled to be completed in August. Once the renovations are complete, the plan is to have Mike VII join LSU’s incoming freshman class in August.

Responsible care for live exotic animals has evolved throughout the years, and LSU has evolved with it, as evidenced by the renovations to the tiger habitat in 1981 and the construction of an entirely new habitat in 2004-05. In that vein, LSU has decided that the tiger will not go into Tiger Stadium on home football game days. He will be out in his yard seven days a week. By having Mike in his yard on game days, it ensures that fans are able to see him throughout the day.

As further evidence of LSU’s dedication to providing the best, most responsible care for tigers, LSU is working to have the tiger habitat accredited as a tiger sanctuary. Becoming an accredited sanctuary means that LSU has met high standards of excellence in animal care and is operating ethically and responsibly. LSU believes that these changes are in the best interest of the longevity and ethical management of the LSU tiger mascot program.

Mikes IV, V and VI were all donated to LSU from rescue facilities. LSU has not purchased a tiger since Mike III in 1956, and LSU does not support the for-profit breeding of tigers. By becoming an accredited sanctuary, LSU is demonstrating its commitment to worldwide tiger conservation and hopes to raise awareness about the dwindling live tiger population and the plight of tigers kept illegally and/or inappropriately in captivity in the U.S.

The tiger habitat and LSU’s animal care plan are licensed by the USDA. The facility, tiger and animal care program are inspected annually to ensure that the facility and the program are in compliance with the Federal Animal Welfare Act and other USDA policies and guidelines.

The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine is one of only 30 veterinary schools in the U.S. and the only one in Louisiana. The LSU SVM is dedicated to improving the lives of people and animals through education, research and service. We teach. We heal. We discover. We protect."

LINK

They did it for decades and it never mattered.
I guess tigers today are more sensitive

It might do him some good to get out every now and then.

Tigers have been known to eat people lol

Apparently the pyrotechnics spooked the previous Mike, and he refused to enter the trailer. They continued not parading the current one, so the university chose fireworks over Mike.

People have gradually accepted it, and have fallen in line with the PETA nazi “he’s a wild tiger, stupid” reasoning, despite the university parading Mike around the stadium for decades with no problems.

I personally wish they would bring Mike Back to the stadium.

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And spare me the “he’s a wild tiger” BS.

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I want you to read this sentence you typed again and think about it.

LSU bows to left wing thought and doesn’t have the spine to fight wokism.

Ae you saying buffaloes, bulls and eagles pose no danger whatsoever?
r

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The issue was the tiger would not get in the cage at all. They tried multiple different things to get him in. They even recorded live chicken house sounds and had them replayed in the cage with dead chickens inside to entice him to go in. That failed and it was basically done after that. They tried plenty and the cat wouldn't budge. No need to stress animals out for this. Nothing to do with fireworks I supplied the dead chickens to try and get him in

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Because of the fireworks that scared the shite out of him.

We chose firecrackers