He said the school would immediately evaluate its policies and procedures around events, adding: “We can assure the Columbus community and all who have expressed concern that we are sorry. We have learned a great deal from this experience.”

The Miami Herald reported that the prom also featured a lemur, two macaws and an African fennec fox.

The Herald reported that the school had initially defended its decision by saying that two Miami-Dade police officers were present and that the tiger “was never harmed or in danger, was not forced to perform, was always accompanied by his handlers, and for the great majority of the time was lying down in a relaxed state facing away from the audience.”

However, the tiger clearly exhibited signs of stress, Ron Magill, communications director of Zoo Miami, said on Monday, after watching the video. He said its ears were perpendicular to its head, in a classic display of stress and agitation amid the loud music and bright lights.

“The problem is nobody did anything illegal,” he said. “The school certainly showed poor judgment. I don’t know what they were thinking.”

He noted that in March, a horse was brought into a Miami nightclub and the crowd went wild. He said it points to a larger underlying problem: “For entertainment purposes, we’ll do anything.”

Jack Wise, manager of Pirates for Parties, which provides exotic wildlife for events, said tigers are often in demand at hip-hop events to promote new music releases.