The Endangered Species Act

Passed in 1973, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) lists species as endangered or threatened and requires protection for these species and their habitats. One of the species included on this list was the Bengal tiger. While one Trinitonian article speculated that the motivation for Lee Roy’s retirement was the Endangered Species Act (Anderson, 1978), Lee Roy’s caretakers asserted that it was due to his old age. The end of Lee Roy’s live appearances was likely a culmination of both his declining health and outside pressure resulting from the passage of the ESA rather than the Act itself, as live animals, including a tiger at LSU, still perform as mascots today.