Before kickoff of Saturday night's game between No. 14 LSU and No. 11 Alabama, a caged Bengal tiger was brought onto the field at Tiger Stadium for the first time in nearly a decade, fulfilling Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry's wish.
That tiger was not Mike VII, who lives on campus.
Following the passing of the school's previous Tiger, Mike VI, in 2016, LSU announced it would not have a future Mike the Tiger on the field.
According to the school's website, Mike VI, who died of a rare cancer, attended 33 out of 58 students at home between 2007 and 2015.
The university's current live mascot, Mike VII, an 8-year-old, 345-pound tiger donated to the school by the sanctuary in 2017, is not brought onto the field for games, but visitors You can still see 15,000 tigers riding in the area. Square foot enclosure located on campus adjacent to the stadium.
As a workaround, Landry arranged for a tiger to be imported from Florida for the game, much to the chagrin of animal rights activists who protested outside the stadium.
As the tiger was towed onto the field with a black curtain over its cage, a giant display board played a short video detailing the history of LSU's live mascot.
The stadium lights dimmed, the curtains rose, and a spotlight was shined onto the cage, revealing the tiger inside as the crowd of fans cheered.
At first, the tiger lay down, but soon began walking in circles.
A few minutes later, as the pregame festivities continued, Cage was carried off the field.
