FLORENCE, Ala. — Friday morning, University of North Alabama announced the passing of its mascot lion - Leo III. He was twenty-one years old. Administrators explain that he passed away after a brief illness on the evening of Thursday, May 2, 2024.
Michael Gilliland is a sophomore History major at UNA, and Gilliland said he is definitely going to miss Leo. He also shares the story of how Leo brought him and his sibling closer together when he first arrived at UNA as a freshman. "So my freshman year, I would come by here like almost like the first three weeks or so, and I would take a picture of Leo and send it off to my sister because it was like my first time being a home away from home for a very long time. And I figured it would be a good way to know have that connection between each other for me and my sister."
Gilliland continued that when he heard the news it was saddening, but he wasn't surprised. "It almost didn't surprise me because his handler had died a few years back, a few months back actually. And, you know, he looked very lonely ever since his sister Una died."
Gilliland is a student worker at Willingham Hall just across from the George H. Carroll Lion Habitat and explained that he will miss the one thing he could always count on from Leo and that's hearing him roar everyday during work. "So I don't know how, but like every morning at eight he would start roaring, and every time at four thirty he would start roaring. So it'd be like your way of knowing when the campus is open and closed."
Chloe Lee Jones is a Junior at UNA and said that things just won't be the same without Leo III. "Whenever my friends come up for a visit, I always get to show him. And so now that he's not here, it's almost like there's just a piece of UNA that's missing." Emma Pierce is also a junior at UNA and expresses that she can definitely identify with Jones. "You know, I always, like, walk by class every day. I saw him and, like, knowing he's not going to be here anymore. It's just so heartbreaking."
UNA Director of Media and Public Relations Michelle Eubanks stated that right now, it's a difficult time for the campus. "And we are focused on allowing our memories and our grief to process." There will be a memorial for Leo III in November which coincides with his birthday.