BATON ROUGE - The governor's office told WBRZ Monday that no state or LSU funds were used to pay a firm to borrow a Bengal tiger to showcase at Saturday's LSU game against Alabama. 

The firm, owned by Mitchel Kalmanson, provided an 18-month old tiger named Omar Bradley to be paraded around Death Valley under the Saturday night lights.  

Gov. Jeff Landry this year floated the idea of again bringing a tiger into Tiger Stadium – a practice abandoned nearly a decade ago as the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave LSU a permit to hold a live tiger mascot on campus. With the university unable or unwilling to supply Mike VII for stadium duty, Landry turned to Kalmanson’s firm.

When asked Monday whether public or private funds were used to pay Kalmanson's firm, the governor's office said no state or LSU funds were used. It was not clear where the money for the tiger came from. 

After the Louisiana Illuminator reported on-the-record with a state lawmaker that a tiger would appear at the stadium, WBRZ confirmed through Kalmanson's office that he would supply the tiger. Kalmanson said Sunday the person who had talked with WBRZ about Omar Bradley's trip to Baton Rouge had been fired despite being an associate for more than 20 years.