Live tiger from Florida to attend LSU-Alabama game 

by Piper Hutchinson, Louisiana Illuminator
November 7, 2024

A live tiger will attend the LSU-Alabama football game Saturday in Baton Rouge, but it won’t be its resident mascot, Mike VII. 

WBRZ-TV reports a Bengal tiger named Omar Bradley is being sent to Baton Rouge for Saturday’s contest in Tiger Stadium, according to its owner’s office in Florida. The tiger is 1.5 years old and is owned by Mitchel Kalmanson, who in online news reports is identified as the operator of an insurance company that specializes in exotic animals.

State Sen. Bill Wheat, R-Ponchatoula, confirmed Thursday morning to the Illuminator that Gov. Jeff Landry will get his wish of having a live tiger mascot attend an LSU football game. Wheat was among the politician-veterinarians Landry recruited for the governor’s unofficial committee to discuss the issue with the university, though he said he was not personally involved with securing Omar Bradley.  

“It’s not Mike,” Wheat said in an interview, referencing LSU’s live tiger mascot that lives in an enclosure across from the LSU football stadium. “I know that was a concern.” 

Reviving the tradition of bringing LSU’s live mascot inside Tiger Stadium has been a pet project of Landry and Surgeon General Ralph Abraham, who’s also a veterinarian. They have led ongoing negotiations with LSU’s veterinary school for several weeks, according to a state lawmaker involved in the talks. 

When LSU pushed back on the request out of humane concerns for the tiger, Abraham floated the idea of finding a second tiger. 

Landry spokeswoman Kate Kelly and LSU spokesmen Todd Woodward and Zach Labbé did not respond to multiple requests for questions asking where the tiger is coming from, who will be responsible for its care and whether it will be kept permanently at LSU.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has compiled a list of several citations it says Kalmanson received from federal authorities between 2000 and 2019 for the substandard conditions in which he housed and transported animals. He leases tigers to Cole Bros Circus and Universoul Circus, among others, according to PETA.

To this point, LSU has drawn a hard line against involving Mike VII into Tiger Stadium. In September, LSU veterinary school spokeswoman Ginger Guttner said the institution “is not in discussions to bring Mike to any games this season.” 

Mike VII, an 8-year-old Bengal-Siberian tiger that became LSU’s official mascot in 2017, has never attended a football game. Previous Mikes have been placed in a trailer and taken to the sidelines of Tiger Stadium, and some have even traveled to away games. The university announced it would stop the tradition when it adopted Mike VII as a cub. 

Guttner said Mike VI had adverse reactions to visual and auditory stimuli during pre-game festivities and became resistant to getting into a trailer cage to attend the game. His final appearance in Tiger Stadium was for the LSU-McNeese game in 2015, which was canceled because of lightning. Mike VI did not attend any games in 2014. 

This report was updated at 5:45 p.m.

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