Was reading the Mike The Tiger History and it says that there is a mystery on whether Mike II actually died and the University covered it up. Anybody know the scoop? Is this Mike V or Mike VI?
Supposedly MIKE II died after only a few weeks. The University said he was not adjusting well to captive and kept him out of sight. When he was brought back out to the public some said it was a different tiger. There are some who beleive that this rumor is true and that their were two Mike IIs.
Mike I lived 20 years. Mike II died as a cub from pneumonia or something. No coverup that I'm aware of. Mike III lived for 20 years. Mike IV served for 18 years then was retired to the Baton Rouge Zoo where he lived several more years. Mike V has been around for 14 years.
The conspiracy is explained in Mike the Tiger Roar of LSU. I will post the complete information when i get home from work.
MIke I 1936-56 Mike II 56-58 Mike III 58-76 Mike IV 76-90 Mike V 90 - present Mike II was born 2/28/56 at the Audubon Zoo in N.O. He was the son of a 4yr old Tiger named Tom, originally from Cincinatti Zoo.(hmmm a yankee) His mother was a lovely 5 yr old Tiger name Carol who had some cirsus experience. Mike II was on of 2 cubs being considered for sale to LSU by Audubon. He was selected becasue his paws were larger than those of the other cub. Mike II arrived secretly on campus 9/28/56. The young tiger was held overnight in the football stadiun, guarded in 2 hr shifts by members of the student council against any would be tulane pranksters. Mike's unveiling occured the next day, opening day of the football season. Legend has it that less than a month after his arrival at LSU, Mike II died of pneumonia at only 8 months of age during a 6 game losing streak. Reportedly then he was secretly buried under a willow tree along the Mississippi River by newly appoint AD Jim COrbett and a couple other LSU officials. According to one of these officials a campus police officer found the dead tiger at 1am and called Corbett in immediately. Inside the cage, reflecting on the gravity of the situation, Corbett said to others on the scene "I can see the newspaper stories now, The football team is so bad that even the tiger couldn't bear the shame." TO explain Mike's absence a statement was issued in the Daily Reveille on Oct 23 saying that mike is having trouble adjusting to his enclosure and was therefore being kept inside "until he becomes more accustomed to the excitement of being a mascot." Jim Corbett Jr. 11 yrs old at the time says that his father never told him what happened next but he recalls phone calls being made in a frantic effort to find another tiger. A cub was located at the right age at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Gilmore says he arranged for the cub to be delivered to the Audubon Zoo. In addition to Corbett's testimony, several other pieces of evidence support the legend that the original Mike II died and was replaced. However, few of these facts were widely known at the time. Records from the Woodland Zoo do list a litter of 3 cubs born 2/24/56, almost the same date as the Tiger born at Audubon Zoo. There is no record of what became of those cubs. Records from Audubon for 1956 refer to a tiger cub being purchased and transfered to Baton ROuge. Photographs of Mike II taken before and after his convalescence are clearly of 2 different tigers. When Mike II was once again allowed to leave his toger house that November, he seemed to have grown at a tremendous rate. Varoius records from that time indicate Mikes weight at 65# in sept 56 and 130# by nov. 28 (thats what south Louisiana cooking can do to ya). There is even a record of a necropsy(animal autopsy) being perfromed on a tiger cub at a N.O medical center during the time Mike was supposedly being kept in isolation. Despite the rumors the offical story was that Mike II finally adjusted to life as a mascot, was in great health and the necrosied cub was actually one of Mikes litter mates. The 2nd Mike II (if there was one) reigned at LSU for only 1 sseason. He died at the Audubon Zoo on 5/15/58 of complications associated with multiple fractures to the left rear leg. It is not know exactly how opr when the injury happened. There was some speculation that the injury occured when he jumped from a pedestal in his cage to the concrete floor below, the imjury is known to have occured sometime near the end of the previous sept. Mike was taken to Audubon for treatment in April but an uncontrollabe infection arose. information taken from Mike the TIger The Roar of LSU
