Mike the Tiger will be euthanized later this week

[the80'sareablurrdawg]

n

 

[The Riddler]

That really is sad. Not an lsu fan but that was a beautiful animal. Those kinds of tigers of also endangered so there are only so many of them left.

 

[TBone.sixpack]

That really sucks.
Sad stuff.

 

[the80'sareablurrdawg]

Take solace in the fact that he lived a very good life. He was cared for like royalty and his domain was fit for,well, a king. Still sad though.

 

[Dawg1976]

That does suck. I'm sure it is tough for the ones who cared for him over the years.

 

[thekimmer]

I suppose they don't groom a routine replacement....

n

Of course then I suppose mike doesn't require much training, unlike our bully, since he is basically just a zoo animal.

Stinks that he has to be put down but then death is a sad but definite part of life.

I believe that tigers are endangered in the wild but not so much in captivity. I believe there are way more captive born tigers than wild ones.

 

[RocketDawg]

Take solace in the fact that he lived a very good life. He was cared for like royalty and his domain was fit for,well, a king. Still sad though.

He led a good life and was treated like royalty ... except he was in captivity. Better to be in the wild in Africa or India or wherever he hailed from.

That said, I hate to see him go. He's a beautiful animal. Anybody know how old he is?

 

[goindhoo]

Born in July of 2005. Looked it up earlier. I assumed he would be older

 

[EngDawg]

I hope LSU can get a Mike VII. The live tiger is one of the great college traditions in America.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

I hope LSU can get a Mike VII. The live tiger is one of the great college traditions in America.

Birds are cheaper.

Signed,
Auburn

 

[MaroonNation]

There's no guarentee they will be given another tiger. I think the fact that they no longer brought him to games helps their cause though. And the fact they built that palatial enclosure. They will have to apply for a permit through the Department of the Interior, if I recall correctly, to be able to buy and keep another one. Before, they would drag the tiger into his cage after baiting the cage or tranquilizing the tiger and park him by the visitors entrance onto the field and antagonize the hell out of him so he would posture and growl at the opposing team. Not something current vets at the school allow to happen.

 

[tatedog]

This is something I was thinking about today. The era of live mascots of the nondomesticated variety is probably coming to a quiet end.

 

[EngDawg]

Saw on tiger rant that LSU is officially beginning the search for Mike VII, so they are going to try.

 

[dawgoneyall]

Of course then I suppose mike doesn't require much training, unlike our bully, since he is basically just a zoo animal.

Stinks that he has to be put down but then death is a sad but definite part of life.

I believe that tigers are endangered in the wild but not so much in captivity. I believe there are way more captive born tigers than wild ones.

Bet he is never groomed.

 

[Xenomorph]

But aren't self-sufficient. Signed, USM.

 

[Palos verdes]

They will definitely get a new cat. If all these big cat haven type places can do it, why not LSU..

 

[MaroonNation]

Because their ability to maintain possession of their live mascot was contingent on the veterinary medicine department accepting responsibility for his care. LSU is not a zoo. The fact that they have been able to keep a tiger is by special circumstance. Ask a USM fan what happened after Nugget died.

 

[Battle.sixpack]

P.S. Even cheaper than trees.

 

[thekimmer]

Actually I believe owning a tiger is governed by state law not federal.....

There's no guarentee they will be given another tiger. I think the fact that they no longer brought him to games helps their cause though. And the fact they built that palatial enclosure. They will have to apply for a permit through the Department of the Interior, if I recall correctly, to be able to buy and keep another one. Before, they would drag the tiger into his cage after baiting the cage or tranquilizing the tiger and park him by the visitors entrance onto the field and antagonize the hell out of him so he would posture and growl at the opposing team. Not something current vets at the school allow to happen.

Some states such as alabama and the carolinas have no restriction whatsoever on owning a tiger while others have a complete or partial ban. Louisiana however is one of the states that ban private ownership but, LSU is not a private institution and there are an over abundance of captive born tigers that would have a 100X better life there than where they are now.

With that said, having a live mascot that you cannot interact with other than to lock it up and gawk at it inside an enclosure kind of defeats the purpose of having a live mascot.

http://www.techinsider.io/exotic-animal-ownership-laws-united-states-2016-1

 

[thekimmer]

He led a good life and was treated like royalty ... except he was in captivity. Better to be in the wild in Africa or India or wherever he hailed from.

That said, I hate to see him go. He's a beautiful animal. Anybody know how old he is?

The only problem with that is Mike and pretty much every tiger in the US are the product of multi-generations of captive bred tigers who know less about living wild in Asia as aunt fannies peek-a-poo does living like a wolf in Montana.

 

[lowbird]

I thought we already did this in 2014.***

 

[aTotal360]

Hate to ruin your narrative on big cats, but these aren't darted and trapped in the jungles of Sumatra. They, nor their parents, their grandparents, or even their great grandparents have ever seen the wild. They are raised like cattle and sold to the highest bidder. Just like the majority of the big game animals in Africa outside of ungulates. Lions are raised in pens and let loose for some rich dude to shoot all the time. It's how a lot of preserves in Africa make money. It's no different than shooting a pet dog. I'm not against it, but it's not my cup of tea either.

 

[thatsbaseball]

"LSU is not a zoo" hmm, this is subject matter for a whole new thread .

 

[patdog]

Well, they're not an accredited zoo.

 

[catvet]

Beautiful animal who has had a great life, but alas in captivity. What is truly sad is the poachers who kill them in their natural habitat. We are destroying the incredible biodiversity of the world, because we cant stop reproducing and indiscriminately killing everything.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

corn dogs is not the proper diet for tigers, obviously.**

 

[CochiseCowbell]

corn dogs is not the proper diet for tigers, obviously.**

I'm told they prefer grass.**