DAY 21: Sunday, August 2nd
Today was very busy as I finished off Arizona and plunged headfirst into the Las Vegas area. I didn’t end up in a motel until very late at night and then I had no decent internet service whatsoever. At least I was able to type up my day’s work and here you go...
Keepers of the Wild:
Keepers of the Wild is a non-AZA accredited animal sanctuary located in Valentine, Arizona, and it is home to approximately 130 animals. There are 22 tigers at the park and all of them are rescue animals from settings such as a zoo that went bankrupt, a family pet, or the cats were used in travelling photo shoots. At the park the big cat exhibits are huge and the largest is 3.5 acres and it contains 5 tigers all roaming around together. Most of the feline yards are a half-acre in size or larger, with smaller exhibits for the canids and smaller cats. Not all the animals have great enclosures as the primates have small metal cages that are mediocre in size and lack many enrichment opportunities.
The zoo is situated on 175 acres and approximately 80 are developed, with a 9-acre deer/ostrich yard being the single largest habitat in the park. On a side note, it seems that every single big cat establishment I’ve visited uses the term “habitat”; I’m well aware that some folks bristle at that nomenclature. This facility is providing a good home for many abused animals and I had a nice chat with co-director Tina Matejek and that is how I obtained the information in regards to the acreage and size of some of the exhibits. She said that the big cat rescue places in the southern United States will still be needed in the future because even though there are far less tigers as pets and in roadside zoos there is still the issue of circuses. Ringling Brothers is phasing out all of its elephants from performances by 2018 and Tina told me that there is currently a bill that has been put forward to urge more U.S. counties (as there are already a number of them) to ban big cats in performing acts. She thinks that whether it is 3 years or 10 years, at some point all circuses in the U.S. will not be allowed to have lions and tigers jumping through hoops and living in tiny transport crates for 90% of their lives. If circuses eventually get rid of all of their performing felines then perhaps even more tigers will need to be rehomed in the future.
Species List: Amur Tiger (one), Bengal Tiger (21 – including some white cats), African Leopard (black), Cougar, Eurasian Lynx, Bobcat, Grizzly Bear, Grey Wolf, Coyote, Bonnet Macaque, Stump-Tailed Macaque, Pig-Tailed Macaque, Black-Capped Capuchin, Ring-Tailed Lemur, Swamp Wallaby, Coati, Raccoon, Fallow Deer, Mule Deer, Llama, Pygmy Goat, Ostrich, Emu and several different birds of prey and macaws.
Lion Habitat Ranch:
Lion Habitat Ranch is a non-AZA accredited zoo located in Henderson, Nevada, and the facility is for the most part advertised as a retirement home for the African Lions that used to participate in the Mirage Hotel act for Siegfried & Roy. However, there are many lions that are less than 10 years old and even a handful of cubs that are only 4 months old and so I’m not sure what the long-term goal of this tiny zoo is but it is just outside the tourist area of Las Vegas and in a nearby suburb. There are many chain-link cages around the grounds and at the moment there are 50 lions that can be seen. Other animals at the zoo consist of Ostriches, Emus and several species of cockatoo and macaw. There is also a one year-old male giraffe (who came from Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Kansas) and the zoo plans to build him a large barn and then purchase a female a couple of years down the road in order to breed the animals. Any zoo enthusiast would be hard pressed to spend longer than 30 minutes at this establishment and the cost of entrance is $25 plus a signed waiver form releasing the zoo from any potential wrongdoing. If $25 is not enough for you then you can pay $20 per person to feed the young giraffe or even $100 per person to feed a lion. Viva Las Vegas!!!
Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat:
Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat is a non-AZA accredited zoo located in Las Vegas, Nevada, and it consists of only 7 exhibits. There is a fairly large pair of Bottlenose Dolphin pools that have a gate separating them (although they could be linked if desired) and there are 10 dolphins at the zoo. After that there is a shaded section that has the other 6 exhibits: Bengal Tiger (orange), Bengal Tiger (white), African Leopard (black), Amur Leopard and a couple of enclosures for White Lions. I’ve seen white lions at a few zoos on this trip but they are still nowhere near as common as white tigers. The dolphin exhibit is of an adequate size in comparison to others and the lion and tiger exhibits are very lush and well-planted but the leopard enclosures are tight for space.
With only 7 exhibits it didn’t take me long to finish touring this zoo but I hung around for a while because two of the keepers went into the white lion enclosure and rolled big boomer balls around the exhibit. I watched them for a number of minutes as it seemed incredibly dangerous to me but the guys inside the enclosure appeared calm and easy-going with the cats. When I watched the 4 keepers go in with a white tiger at Out of Africa at least they held balloons to distract the cat and it was a 4 to 1 ratio of people to tiger. Today there were the two keepers but they had nothing in their hands and I watched the 3 younger lions eye them and tense when the men came closer with the boomer balls. Being in with 3 lions at the same time is an enormous risk because it would only take a few seconds to turn one of the men into a paraplegic or worse. Why take the chance?
I will mention that inside the lobby of the Mirage Hotel is a 53-foot long aquarium tank behind the check-in desk. No, I will not count it as an aquarium on my all-time list! It is 8 feet high, 6 feet wide; it has 4 inch thick acrylic and holds 21,000 gallons of water. For a random aquarium in a hotel it is really nice and it was teeming with all sorts of colourful fish and even a few eels.
Flamingo’s Wildlife Habitat:
Flamingo’s Wildlife Habitat is located in Las Vegas, Nevada, and it found within the 15 acre grounds of the Flamingo Hotel. There is a small flock of Chilean Flamingos, a Brown Pelican, at least 10 more species of waterfowl and a few macaws on sticks. I walked in 105 degree Fahrenheit temperature down the street from the Mirage Hotel to the Flamingo Hotel just to see the famous Wildlife Habitat but I don’t think that I’m going to count it as a “zoo”. It is simply a series of pools with some nice birds for the public to gawk at, with no discernible entrance and certainly no admission fee. Unless someone convinces me otherwise I’m leaning towards not counting it but I’m glad that I at least saw it with my own eyes.
I should point out that walking along the Vegas Strip is an event in itself. The casinos are enormous and like mini-cities, although I was stunned to see clouds of smoke as all of the casinos allow smoking in the gambling areas. What???? Once again cigarettes rear their ugly head in America, but on a more humorous note there are literally thousands of little cards that are all over the ground as they are discarded by passersby. Those cards have photos of prostitutes on them as in Nevada prostitution is legal and some of the cards even had women in their sixties! The women are naked except for tiny, well-placed stars and there are little slogans on some of them like: “21 and Barely Legal”; or this one made me laugh: “Experience Counts around Here!” Las Vegas is a cacophony of noise, sweat, pumped-up air-conditioning and perhaps everyone should visit Sin City at least once in their lives just to see what the fuss is all about. On my way out of town I passed several signs for brothels, with a couple of them in small, dilapidated towns that had half of their businesses boarded up. What kind of angel is going to be waiting for passing motorists in those one-horse towns? One brothel sign advertised “Hot Sauce, Homemade Jam, Souvenirs!” and I’m not sure that anyone would want a keepsake to take home from a brothel.
Springs Preserve:
Springs Preserve is a non-AZA accredited zoo located in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the facility is difficult to categorize but it is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is part museum, part zoo, part environmental center, part everything! Navigating ones way around is tricky even with a map as there are canyon-themed pathways that cause visitors to become disoriented, plus there are several buildings that are spread out in haphazard fashion and more things have been added since it opened in 2007. The Main Entrance has a huge building that contains a fancy café on the top floor and then a gift shop and Nature Exchange on the bottom floor. There is a building called the Nevada State Museum and it is well-done although a bit boring as it has many exhibits on the history of Nevada and the focus is primarily on minerals and oil. A number of taxidermy animals make it a tad interesting for zoo enthusiasts and the highlight is an enormous Mammoth skeleton near the entrance.
There is a Train Depot under construction; several hiking trails that range from a third of a mile to more than 2 miles (with many interpretative elements along the trails); a Waterworks Museum that says “coming soon” on the map; a sprawling Amphitheater; a Desert Living Center (a bit of a waste of space as it is mainly utilized for staff members but figures prominently on the map; a sustainable gallery with intriguing environmental displays and hands-on attractions; a Botanical Garden with a Butterfly House (very small and not open during the sweltering summer months); and the whole park is 180 acres.
The Origen Museum is where most of the action is, as there is a gallery on Natural Mojave; a special exhibit that is currently Dinosaurs; a display of small animals inside that include a few rarities; a Native American Village outside; and a mini-zoo adjacent to the village. The terrariums are very nicely designed in mock-canyon areas and much of the facility has great hands-on stuff for kids to figure out. I ended up spending close to two hours at this facility and it is well worth seeing and arguably the highlight of the Las Vegas area.
Species List (26 total): Various Butterflies (in greenhouse), Grey Fox, Cottontail Rabbit, Botta’s Pocket Gopher, Merriam’s Kangaroo Rat, Desert Tortoise, Relict Leopard Frog, Desert Iguana, Desert Spiny Lizard, Long-Tailed Brush Lizard, Ornate Tree Lizard, Western Banded Gecko, Great Basin Collared Lizard, Desert Horned Lizard, Side-Blotched Lizard, Banded Gila Monster, Chuckwalla, Tiger Whiptail Snake, Sidewinder Rattlesnake, Desert Night Snake, Thistledown Velvet Ant, Rough Harvester Ant, Desert Tarantula, Bark Scorpion, Black Widow Spider, Desert Recluse Spider and Banded Desert Centipede.
If anyone is interested, the link below contains an informative article from 2010 and it asks the question “what the hell is it?” in regards to Springs Preserve and its issues with attendance:
Trouble in Paradise? | Vegas Seven
Shark Reef Aquarium:
Shark Reef Aquarium is an AZA accredited facility located in Las Vegas, Nevada, and it opened inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel in 2000. There is 95,000 sq. ft. of floor space and 1.6 million gallons of water and the place was absolutely jammed on the Sunday afternoon of my visit. It took 5 minutes to park my car on Level Four and walk through the huge garage; then I walked 10 minutes though most of Mandalay Bay Hotel in order to make my way to the aquarium; then I stood in line for 20 minutes to purchase a ticket; then I stood in another line for 20 more minutes to enter the facility and go up an escalator; then I stood in yet another line for 5 minutes as while groups of people were leaving the facility then staff members were letting in new visitors. I essentially spent an entire hour and $18 to get into the aquarium and then I was out again after 45 minutes. That included painstakingly waiting for the touch screen by the big shark tank to scroll through all of the various species on display. Guess how many exhibits are in this facility that 1 million people visit each year? The answer is 14.
The aquarium is themed within an inch of its life, with a Komodo Dragon and a “Golden” Crocodile both in entrance exhibits that offer almost zero natural substrate. There are temple walls everywhere! However, the huge shark tank is spectacular, it contains massive fish and it holds 1.3 million gallons of water. The exhibit has a series of large display windows, two walk-through tunnels, is 22 feet deep and contains these 20 species: Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (one of only 3 aquariums in the U.S. with the species), Sand Tiger Shark, Sandbar Shark, Galapagos Shark, Nurse Shark, Grey Reef Shark, Whitetip Reef Shark, Zebra Shark, Green Sawfish, Bowmouth Guitarfish, Green Sea Turtle, Green Moray Eel, Southern Stingray, Tarpon, Fiji Devil Damsel, Lookdown Fish, Crevalle Jack, Giant Trevally, Blue Runner Jack and Creole Fish.
Today was very busy as I finished off Arizona and plunged headfirst into the Las Vegas area. I didn’t end up in a motel until very late at night and then I had no decent internet service whatsoever. At least I was able to type up my day’s work and here you go...
Keepers of the Wild:
Keepers of the Wild is a non-AZA accredited animal sanctuary located in Valentine, Arizona, and it is home to approximately 130 animals. There are 22 tigers at the park and all of them are rescue animals from settings such as a zoo that went bankrupt, a family pet, or the cats were used in travelling photo shoots. At the park the big cat exhibits are huge and the largest is 3.5 acres and it contains 5 tigers all roaming around together. Most of the feline yards are a half-acre in size or larger, with smaller exhibits for the canids and smaller cats. Not all the animals have great enclosures as the primates have small metal cages that are mediocre in size and lack many enrichment opportunities.
The zoo is situated on 175 acres and approximately 80 are developed, with a 9-acre deer/ostrich yard being the single largest habitat in the park. On a side note, it seems that every single big cat establishment I’ve visited uses the term “habitat”; I’m well aware that some folks bristle at that nomenclature. This facility is providing a good home for many abused animals and I had a nice chat with co-director Tina Matejek and that is how I obtained the information in regards to the acreage and size of some of the exhibits. She said that the big cat rescue places in the southern United States will still be needed in the future because even though there are far less tigers as pets and in roadside zoos there is still the issue of circuses. Ringling Brothers is phasing out all of its elephants from performances by 2018 and Tina told me that there is currently a bill that has been put forward to urge more U.S. counties (as there are already a number of them) to ban big cats in performing acts. She thinks that whether it is 3 years or 10 years, at some point all circuses in the U.S. will not be allowed to have lions and tigers jumping through hoops and living in tiny transport crates for 90% of their lives. If circuses eventually get rid of all of their performing felines then perhaps even more tigers will need to be rehomed in the future.
Species List: Amur Tiger (one), Bengal Tiger (21 – including some white cats), African Leopard (black), Cougar, Eurasian Lynx, Bobcat, Grizzly Bear, Grey Wolf, Coyote, Bonnet Macaque, Stump-Tailed Macaque, Pig-Tailed Macaque, Black-Capped Capuchin, Ring-Tailed Lemur, Swamp Wallaby, Coati, Raccoon, Fallow Deer, Mule Deer, Llama, Pygmy Goat, Ostrich, Emu and several different birds of prey and macaws.
Lion Habitat Ranch:
Lion Habitat Ranch is a non-AZA accredited zoo located in Henderson, Nevada, and the facility is for the most part advertised as a retirement home for the African Lions that used to participate in the Mirage Hotel act for Siegfried & Roy. However, there are many lions that are less than 10 years old and even a handful of cubs that are only 4 months old and so I’m not sure what the long-term goal of this tiny zoo is but it is just outside the tourist area of Las Vegas and in a nearby suburb. There are many chain-link cages around the grounds and at the moment there are 50 lions that can be seen. Other animals at the zoo consist of Ostriches, Emus and several species of cockatoo and macaw. There is also a one year-old male giraffe (who came from Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Kansas) and the zoo plans to build him a large barn and then purchase a female a couple of years down the road in order to breed the animals. Any zoo enthusiast would be hard pressed to spend longer than 30 minutes at this establishment and the cost of entrance is $25 plus a signed waiver form releasing the zoo from any potential wrongdoing. If $25 is not enough for you then you can pay $20 per person to feed the young giraffe or even $100 per person to feed a lion. Viva Las Vegas!!!
Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat:
Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat is a non-AZA accredited zoo located in Las Vegas, Nevada, and it consists of only 7 exhibits. There is a fairly large pair of Bottlenose Dolphin pools that have a gate separating them (although they could be linked if desired) and there are 10 dolphins at the zoo. After that there is a shaded section that has the other 6 exhibits: Bengal Tiger (orange), Bengal Tiger (white), African Leopard (black), Amur Leopard and a couple of enclosures for White Lions. I’ve seen white lions at a few zoos on this trip but they are still nowhere near as common as white tigers. The dolphin exhibit is of an adequate size in comparison to others and the lion and tiger exhibits are very lush and well-planted but the leopard enclosures are tight for space.
With only 7 exhibits it didn’t take me long to finish touring this zoo but I hung around for a while because two of the keepers went into the white lion enclosure and rolled big boomer balls around the exhibit. I watched them for a number of minutes as it seemed incredibly dangerous to me but the guys inside the enclosure appeared calm and easy-going with the cats. When I watched the 4 keepers go in with a white tiger at Out of Africa at least they held balloons to distract the cat and it was a 4 to 1 ratio of people to tiger. Today there were the two keepers but they had nothing in their hands and I watched the 3 younger lions eye them and tense when the men came closer with the boomer balls. Being in with 3 lions at the same time is an enormous risk because it would only take a few seconds to turn one of the men into a paraplegic or worse. Why take the chance?
I will mention that inside the lobby of the Mirage Hotel is a 53-foot long aquarium tank behind the check-in desk. No, I will not count it as an aquarium on my all-time list! It is 8 feet high, 6 feet wide; it has 4 inch thick acrylic and holds 21,000 gallons of water. For a random aquarium in a hotel it is really nice and it was teeming with all sorts of colourful fish and even a few eels.
Flamingo’s Wildlife Habitat:
Flamingo’s Wildlife Habitat is located in Las Vegas, Nevada, and it found within the 15 acre grounds of the Flamingo Hotel. There is a small flock of Chilean Flamingos, a Brown Pelican, at least 10 more species of waterfowl and a few macaws on sticks. I walked in 105 degree Fahrenheit temperature down the street from the Mirage Hotel to the Flamingo Hotel just to see the famous Wildlife Habitat but I don’t think that I’m going to count it as a “zoo”. It is simply a series of pools with some nice birds for the public to gawk at, with no discernible entrance and certainly no admission fee. Unless someone convinces me otherwise I’m leaning towards not counting it but I’m glad that I at least saw it with my own eyes.
I should point out that walking along the Vegas Strip is an event in itself. The casinos are enormous and like mini-cities, although I was stunned to see clouds of smoke as all of the casinos allow smoking in the gambling areas. What???? Once again cigarettes rear their ugly head in America, but on a more humorous note there are literally thousands of little cards that are all over the ground as they are discarded by passersby. Those cards have photos of prostitutes on them as in Nevada prostitution is legal and some of the cards even had women in their sixties! The women are naked except for tiny, well-placed stars and there are little slogans on some of them like: “21 and Barely Legal”; or this one made me laugh: “Experience Counts around Here!” Las Vegas is a cacophony of noise, sweat, pumped-up air-conditioning and perhaps everyone should visit Sin City at least once in their lives just to see what the fuss is all about. On my way out of town I passed several signs for brothels, with a couple of them in small, dilapidated towns that had half of their businesses boarded up. What kind of angel is going to be waiting for passing motorists in those one-horse towns? One brothel sign advertised “Hot Sauce, Homemade Jam, Souvenirs!” and I’m not sure that anyone would want a keepsake to take home from a brothel.
Springs Preserve:
Springs Preserve is a non-AZA accredited zoo located in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the facility is difficult to categorize but it is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is part museum, part zoo, part environmental center, part everything! Navigating ones way around is tricky even with a map as there are canyon-themed pathways that cause visitors to become disoriented, plus there are several buildings that are spread out in haphazard fashion and more things have been added since it opened in 2007. The Main Entrance has a huge building that contains a fancy café on the top floor and then a gift shop and Nature Exchange on the bottom floor. There is a building called the Nevada State Museum and it is well-done although a bit boring as it has many exhibits on the history of Nevada and the focus is primarily on minerals and oil. A number of taxidermy animals make it a tad interesting for zoo enthusiasts and the highlight is an enormous Mammoth skeleton near the entrance.
There is a Train Depot under construction; several hiking trails that range from a third of a mile to more than 2 miles (with many interpretative elements along the trails); a Waterworks Museum that says “coming soon” on the map; a sprawling Amphitheater; a Desert Living Center (a bit of a waste of space as it is mainly utilized for staff members but figures prominently on the map; a sustainable gallery with intriguing environmental displays and hands-on attractions; a Botanical Garden with a Butterfly House (very small and not open during the sweltering summer months); and the whole park is 180 acres.
The Origen Museum is where most of the action is, as there is a gallery on Natural Mojave; a special exhibit that is currently Dinosaurs; a display of small animals inside that include a few rarities; a Native American Village outside; and a mini-zoo adjacent to the village. The terrariums are very nicely designed in mock-canyon areas and much of the facility has great hands-on stuff for kids to figure out. I ended up spending close to two hours at this facility and it is well worth seeing and arguably the highlight of the Las Vegas area.
Species List (26 total): Various Butterflies (in greenhouse), Grey Fox, Cottontail Rabbit, Botta’s Pocket Gopher, Merriam’s Kangaroo Rat, Desert Tortoise, Relict Leopard Frog, Desert Iguana, Desert Spiny Lizard, Long-Tailed Brush Lizard, Ornate Tree Lizard, Western Banded Gecko, Great Basin Collared Lizard, Desert Horned Lizard, Side-Blotched Lizard, Banded Gila Monster, Chuckwalla, Tiger Whiptail Snake, Sidewinder Rattlesnake, Desert Night Snake, Thistledown Velvet Ant, Rough Harvester Ant, Desert Tarantula, Bark Scorpion, Black Widow Spider, Desert Recluse Spider and Banded Desert Centipede.
If anyone is interested, the link below contains an informative article from 2010 and it asks the question “what the hell is it?” in regards to Springs Preserve and its issues with attendance:
Trouble in Paradise? | Vegas Seven
Shark Reef Aquarium:
Shark Reef Aquarium is an AZA accredited facility located in Las Vegas, Nevada, and it opened inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel in 2000. There is 95,000 sq. ft. of floor space and 1.6 million gallons of water and the place was absolutely jammed on the Sunday afternoon of my visit. It took 5 minutes to park my car on Level Four and walk through the huge garage; then I walked 10 minutes though most of Mandalay Bay Hotel in order to make my way to the aquarium; then I stood in line for 20 minutes to purchase a ticket; then I stood in another line for 20 more minutes to enter the facility and go up an escalator; then I stood in yet another line for 5 minutes as while groups of people were leaving the facility then staff members were letting in new visitors. I essentially spent an entire hour and $18 to get into the aquarium and then I was out again after 45 minutes. That included painstakingly waiting for the touch screen by the big shark tank to scroll through all of the various species on display. Guess how many exhibits are in this facility that 1 million people visit each year? The answer is 14.
The aquarium is themed within an inch of its life, with a Komodo Dragon and a “Golden” Crocodile both in entrance exhibits that offer almost zero natural substrate. There are temple walls everywhere! However, the huge shark tank is spectacular, it contains massive fish and it holds 1.3 million gallons of water. The exhibit has a series of large display windows, two walk-through tunnels, is 22 feet deep and contains these 20 species: Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (one of only 3 aquariums in the U.S. with the species), Sand Tiger Shark, Sandbar Shark, Galapagos Shark, Nurse Shark, Grey Reef Shark, Whitetip Reef Shark, Zebra Shark, Green Sawfish, Bowmouth Guitarfish, Green Sea Turtle, Green Moray Eel, Southern Stingray, Tarpon, Fiji Devil Damsel, Lookdown Fish, Crevalle Jack, Giant Trevally, Blue Runner Jack and Creole Fish.
Why do you think Los Angeles has been attempting to get extra elephants over the years? Whether it is from Calgary, Lee Richardson or anywhere else, the zoo realizes that having 3 elephants in such a big space is nowhere near as impressive as having what Reid Park has with its 6-member family unit. The herd dynamics elevate that exhibit to a higher standing, much the same as what occurs at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and that is why I've heard through the grapevine that L.A. Zoo has applied no less than 8 times to obtain elephants from zoos that are phasing them out. The number of elephants DEFINITELY determines the excellence of the exhibit in my opinion. 