{"id":480,"date":"2008-01-31T19:56:03","date_gmt":"2008-02-01T01:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/wild-things-exotic-animals-on-the-vegas-strip\/"},"modified":"2016-12-17T22:43:57","modified_gmt":"2016-12-18T04:43:57","slug":"wild-things-exotic-animals-on-the-vegas-strip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/wild-things-exotic-animals-on-the-vegas-strip\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild things: Exotic animals on the Vegas Strip"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Shark_reef\"<\/a>
\nBy Joe Vegas<\/em><\/p>\n

Along the Strip, Las Vegas hotels<\/strong><\/a> are home to some of the most exotic and dangerous animals in the world. And we’re not talking elderly mob figures who still troll the sports books every now and then. We’re talking about sharks, lions and dolphins, just to name a few.<\/p>\n

Beginning on the far southern tip of the Strip, Mandalay Bay<\/a>‘s<\/strong> Shark Reef<\/strong>, a 1.6 million-gallon aquarium that you can walk around, under and through, holds some 15 different species of sharks, along with crocodiles, stingrays, a massive pool of jellyfish, piranhas and other rarities you wouldn’t want to see unless they’re behind very thick Plexiglas. <\/p>\n

To the north, a shimmering brass lion not only adorns the MGM<\/a><\/strong>‘s front entrance, but live lions greet visitors inside the casino. For the price of nothing, visitors can watch lions behind Plexiglas in a made-to-look-real habitat, as they frolic, stare at you with steaks in their eyes, or simply doze.<\/p>\n

A bit farther north is Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden<\/strong> and Dolphin Habitat. There’s a 2.5 million-gallon pool that is home to a family of Atlantic bottle-nose dolphins that you can watch up closer than in any other conservation or amusement park facility. Our favorite feature is being able to see the nearly extinct white tigers up very close. It’s a bit sad to see them in captivity, but it would be even sadder to think of their fate inthe wild.<\/p>\n

Then the most exotic, endlessly fascinating and infinitely unique creatures are those that line the Las Vegas Strip<\/strong> 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They are, of course, us. People sit for hours on the Strip just to partake of that very human, and always interesting , sport of people-watching.<\/p>\n

Related Orbitz resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n