Sitting down with Lindsey Harvey of LSU T4T

Lindsey Harvey, the founder of LSU Tigers for Tigers sits down with us to talk about her experience starting a Tigers for Tigers club, pursuing her career path and gives advice to new Tigers for Tigers clubs.  Lindsey Harvey is currently pursuing a veterinarian degree from LSU.

Lindsey Harvey and Mike the mascot

How did you go about starting Tigers for Tigers at LSU?

Lindsey:

Well I was on WWF’s website and I heard about the Tigers for Tigers challenge that they had years ago and I saw that Clemson, Missouri and Auburn were on it in which people could donate money in their honor to tiger conservation.

I noticed that LSU didn’t have a Tigers for Tigers club. That didn’t make any sense to me. So I decided to go ahead and make it a club! It was a very long process, it took about a year and a half to get it finalized and recruit members. I have to thank other student organizations for putting me in this direction.

Would you give any advice to other Tigers for Tigers clubs that are just starting out?

Lindsey:

It is hard to start an organization and I know that I got disappointed when no one would show up to our meetings except for the officers. That may discourage you, but you have to keep at it. It will take a while for your organization to gain recognition on campus and get big. I promise that it will get better.

What impact do you think that you have had in the community?

Lindsey:

We hope to help LSU students, and members within our community understand the issue of tigers in captivity and tigers as pets. That is the main issue that we try to focus on, considering that LSU has a tiger is on our campus named Mike. Many students believe that we are trying to get rid of Mike, but that is not the case. He has a great home, one of the best tiger habitats in the country. We want to help people understand that are not trying to get rid of all tigers in captivity, just those who consider them as pets and are in unfortunate conditions.

 We are also trying to save wild tigers. We want to make sure that we will always have a tiger as our mascot. What is the point of having a tiger as your mascot if there are not tigers in the wild?

You have a pretty awesome story about pursuing vet school. Could you tell us more about it?

Lindsey:

I never actually wanted to go to vet school until I started getting involved with Tigers for Tigers and I realized how amazing these animals are. That was when I switched from pursing medical school to vet school. I want to help save these animals.

I am still in the process of trying to figure out how I can do the job that I want. I might have to make my own career out of it. My current plan is to do pathology for conservation efforts or go into surgery and assist these animals within sanctuaries.

But, what has been nice, is that I have been able to bring over Tigers for Tigers into the vet school and educate the students about tigers and our activities. Some of the students attend our meetings regularly.

I do get to hangout with Dr. Baker a lot. He is Mike’s vet. He is such a big supporter of us.

Your most recent activity consisted of making an edible cake for Mike. What was that all about? 

Lindsey:

We designed an edible cake for Mike on behalf of LSU Tigers for Tigers to generate awareness about tiger conservation and to promote the Save Vanishing Species Stamp. It was also a great way to get our members interested in Tigers for Tigers.

We had a unique opportunity to learn about Mike and tour the facility with Dr. Baker. We learned about the history of Mike and LSU, Mike’s diet, the cost to take care of Mike. It was really awesome, and it was great to have Dr. Baker’s support. It was great opportunity for our members to learn about the cost of taking care of Mike and everything that goes on behind the scenes.

What are some of your plans for next semester?

Lindsey:

Next semester we are planning a fundraiser at a local restaurant. We hope to have Mike our mascot, not the real tiger but the one in the costume, participate in the event. People would be able to interact with our mascot and raise money for tigers.

We are also planning a trip to volunteer at a local big cat sanctuary called Yogie and Friends. This facility is non-breeding and does not allow people to interact directly with the animals. We are really looking forward to that and giving back to our community.

About Us:

Tigers for Tigers LSU, founded in 2011, has striven to provide aid and raise awareness to save wild tigers. The organization has attempted to spread the urgency of the tiger situation to the Baton Rouge community with great strides.

To learn more information about the LSU Tigers for Tigers, visit http://www.t4tlsu.org/ Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.