Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
animals donated by a collector named Bruno Shear. These still hold pride of place
at the front of the museum, but what lies behind these grimacing, glassy-eyed,
sometimes mangy stuffies, is far more compelling. Skip the first two rooms and
head straight back to the dinosaurs, which were built with the help of a fairly
recent endowment and are
Jurassic Park-
quality monsters, 35-feet-long and able
to growl and move (when you push the appropriate buttons). Deductive text next
to the exhibits teaches children (and adults) about their habits and the theories
surrounding their extinction. Along with the dinos are rooms with live reptiles
and fish (including a neat bamboo shark hatchery and nursery, where you'll see
the tiny killers wiggling in their translucent egg sacks); a room of interactive
physics and chemistry experiments; and for a dash of controversy, a detailed, real-
istic-looking group of sculptures representing human evolution, from ape on up,
based on the latest findings in the field. It's actually quite well done. “We are stew-
ards of the world,” Marilyn Gillespie, the Executive Director told me “We are
becoming so urbanized, we're out of touch with nature. Our purpose is to instill
an appreciation for wildlife and the environment in all who come here.” Not a
modest goal, but one that I think, is being modestly accomplished here. Bring the
kids when they, and you, have gotten tired of the brain-freezing thrills of the Strip
and you need to thaw out.
In 2003, during the 5,749th performance of Siegfried & Roy's legendary
magic show, the white tiger Montecore refused a command to lie down. When
Roy Horn pulled on his leash (or stumbled, accounts vary) Montecore attacked
Horn, grabbing his forearm with his mighty fangs, eventually dragging him by the
neck across stage until a stagehand was able to rescue the wounded magician.
Horn was rushed to the hospital and survived the attack, though the show was
permanently closed. Horn is still recovering from the muscular and neurological
damage inflicted that day. Montecore, in the meantime, was put into quarantine
for 10 days as required by law, and when no odd behaviors were noted he
was returned to his home:
The Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat
(at the Mirage;
%
702/791
-
7111; www.mirage.com;
$
12 adults, free under 10 years of age;
Mon-Fri 11am-5:30pm, Sat-Sun 10am-5:30pm; AE, DISC, MC, V).
He's now been
removed from the exhibit, but you will see ten other large cats that once disap-
peared on cue, pacing restlessly in the junglelike enclosures of the garden to this
day. Perhaps because of that history, or perhaps because the animals look so sad
and bored, I'm not a big fan of the place. Or the processes used to create these
tigers (they do not exist in the wild), for that matter. The white tigers are actually
Bengal tigers; the white coloration is a genetic abnormality that results from
inbreeding and is often accompanied by a host of other genetic defects such as
clubfeet, abnormal kidneys, crooked backbones, and cataracts. Purposefully cre-
ating these beasts is a cruel practice as is keeping these natural roamers in confined
spaces. Though the tigers do return to their larger home at Siegfried and Roy's
ranch at night, the hours spent at this garden look like a prison sentence, to this
outsider.
Somewhat better is the attached Dolphin Habitat, which consists of two over-
size pools inhabited by 10 bottlenose dolphins, many of whom were born in this
