“Mike the Tiger” updated book set to be released

BATON ROUGE – Mike the Tiger has symbolized the spirit and resolve of LSU for more than 75 years. Fiercely confident, keenly competitive, marvelously clever, and the only live tiger to reside on a college campus, Mike reigns nobly from his home just outside of Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.

In a completely updated and visually stunning new edition of "Mike the Tiger," available in September from LSU Press, David G. Baker and W. Sheldon Bivin tell the story of this famed mascot from the Civil War origins of LSU's fighting tiger tradition to the present age of social media. They share priceless behind-the-scenes anecdotes as they chronicle the reign of each of the six Mikes.

The second edition offers 70 additional photos, for a total of 200 images. Additionally, the authors provide a "More about Mike" section, in which they field the most commonly asked questions about Mike's care and lifestyle.

Baker is the Paula and Milton W. Shepard Professor of Veterinary Medicine and director of the Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine in the School of Veterinary Medicine at LSU. He also serves as Institutional Attending Veterinarian for LSU and has been primary veterinarian for Mike the Tiger since 1996.

Bivin was director of the Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine in the School of Veterinary Medicine at LSU and primary veterinarian for Mike the Tiger from 1976 to 1996.

For more information, contact Erin Rolfs at 225-578-8282 or erolfs@lsu.edu or visit http://lsupress.org/.