Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat Secret Garden opinions

kellylou

Member
Hi, sorry if this has already been discussed but I wondered what general opinions were on the Secret Garden at the Mirage in Las Vegas.
I visited several years ago and was shocked at the cramped conditons that the various animals were kept in. Including the white tiger exhibit at the hotel entrance (which is now a burger bar!).
I have heard that the animals are in the various enclosures for only short periods of time, but not sure if this is actually the case.

I really am a fan of zoos as an educational experience and as a hugely important conservation source and usually enjoy them. This one to me seemed frivolous though. As if - lets see how many animals we can get in this tiny piece of land to draw more people through the ticket barriers.

I looked at the animals there and felt nothing but sadness at seeing such amazing animals as the white tigers and panthers in such tiny cages.
On the plus side the keepers seemed to be very enthusiastic about their jobs and knowledgeable about displays they had.
 
I have just posted some photos from my visit back in early March.

In a similar way to what I did with Shedd Aquarium, rather than put up a whole review, I posted most of my opinions and comments in the descriptions of the photos.

To briefly sum-up:

*The dolphin area is the highlight of the two main sections, with a trio of overall decent pools, a pod that was fun to watch, and even a show.

*The cat area was, while better than I anticipated, the weaker of the two. But still average on the whole.

*The Gardens overall is an okay outing. I would rank it at 20th out of the 21 zoos I've been to; this mainly due to very small size and minimal animals - big cats and dolphins only - on display. In my opinion, I don't think it's worth going out of the way to see, but if one needs a break from the casinos of Las Vegas, check it out.
 
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