BATON ROUGE – Mike VI, LSU's live mascot, will remain in his habitat on football game days for the 2016 season, according to university officials.

Due to Mike's recent cancer diagnosis, no attempts will be made to load him into his trailer to take him on the home field for the season. Instead, he will be released into his yard in the morning on game days so that Tiger fans can see him there throughout the day.

The university understands the tradition of having Mike on the field on game day, but Mike's health, safety and well-being are always top priority, according to university officials.

In June Mike VI received stereotactic radiotherapy at the Mary Bird Perkins – Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center for spindle cell sarcoma. It appears that the tumor in Mike's face responded to the radiation treatment and has shrunk in size and he does not appear to be in any pain, according to officials.

Officials say the radiation-resistant cells remaining in the tumor will resume growth. It is estimated that without treatment Mike would have lived for just one or two months but with treatment, perhaps one to two years. For information on Mike’s cancer diagnosis and treatment, please go to www.lsu.edu/miketiger.