Activists fight to keep exotic animal exhibits out of Las Vegas casinos

Have animal rights activists altered the landscape of nongaming amenities in Las Vegas?

Activists have monitored the Las Vegas gaming industry for as long as casinos have used animals to draw attention to their properties.

Organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have doggedly criticized companies for taking animals out of their natural environments for commercial purposes.

The latest action by PETA: writing a letter to Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, chairman and chief executive of the Malaysia-based Genting Group, developers of Resorts World Las Vegas on the Strip, pleading with him “to drop the cruel panda exhibit from your blueprints.”

When Genting in 2013 first announced plans to build a 6,500-room resort on the former site of the Stardust, executives explained that Resorts World Las Vegas would be a Chinese-themed property and, yes, a panda exhibit was planned.

But as plans evolved and Genting delayed and changed the phasing of the project — the initial phase would see 3,000 rooms — the panda exhibit disappeared.

So it was a little surprising for PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman’s letter to hit my email box last week.

“I am writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and our more than 5 million members and supporters worldwide with regard to rumors that a panda exhibit will allegedly be included in your Chinese-themed resort opening in Las Vegas in 2018,” the letter said.

By the way, the opening date has been pushed back to 2019.

“People frequent casinos for the entertainment, the experience and the hope of leaving with more money than they came with. They don’t go to gamble with the health and welfare of delicate animals who are confined to an artificial environment.”

The use of animals in casino showrooms and in exhibits have appealed to people’s interest in seeing something they’ve never seen before. Most people probably would never have seen a white tiger had the beautiful big cats not been housed at The Mirage during the heyday of illusionists Siegfried & Roy. The tiger enclosure was almost always packed with onlookers.

Siegfried & Roy and The Mirage built a brand around the tigers until tragedy struck Oct. 3, 2003, when Roy Horn was mauled during a performance. Horn and partner Siegfried Fischbacher championed the beauty of the tigers and won accolades for their efforts. Their Secret Garden attraction brought millions of guests to The Mirage for one of those ancillary nongaming attractions that commonly generate more revenue than the casino floor.

The Secret Garden also has a dolphin habitat that drew PETA’s ire most recently in November 2015 when a dolphin died, one of several dolphin deaths at The Mirage since 1990.

MGM Resorts International also has capitalized on the appeal of animals with its lion enclosure at the MGM Grand (it closed and was removed in January 2012) and its Shark Reef Aquarium attraction at Mandalay Bay, which opens its doors to classes studying marine biology.

Who would have had the opportunity to see sharks, rays and a Komodo dragon locally if not for the Shark Reef attraction?

That precedence of having exotic animals on display, especially those friendly-looking pandas, has made Resorts World an exciting anticipation for some. So when I called Michael Levoff, Genting’s senior vice president of public affairs and a spokesman for Resorts World Las Vegas, he was puzzled.

“We said we weren’t going to do that a long time ago,” he said.

So I called Lindsay Dadko, a spokeswoman for PETA in Oakland, California, and gave her the news that the only pandas that would be in Resort World Las Vegas’ casino would be the small images that appear on the reels of some Chinese-themed slot machines.

“I hadn’t heard about that, but if it’s true, we’re happy about it,” she said.

PETA, she said, would continue to work to protect animals from being used in casino settings.

“Putting pandas on display for gamblers to ogle at on their way to the pai gow table conveys an utter lack of respect for nature and wildlife,” said Reiman, the PETA executive vice president. “As audiences worldwide turn away from places that exhibit animals, PETA is urging Genting Group to make the responsible and business-savvy decision not to play games with the health and welfare of intelligent, sensitive pandas.”

PETA says there is no doubt that pandas are symbolic of China, but the exhibition of them undermines conservation efforts.

In her letter to Genting, Reiman said, “Exhibiting exotic animals on the Las Vegas Strip is quickly becoming a thing of the past, as public opinion has shifted away from live-animal exhibits. Shows that have traditionally exploited lions and tigers have either nixed the cats from their performances or are being denied the opportunity to perform until they go animal-free. In fact, there are currently no acts on the Strip that feature big cats. The public simply does not want to see wild animals damned to a lifetime of confinement and exploitation.”

Since Levoff was in the mood to dispel rumors, I also asked him the question people all over town have been asking: When is construction going to pick up at Resorts World?

Readers have said they heard Genting has stopped work on Resorts World and is abandoning the project.

Completely false, Levoff said. He said there are about 30 people working on some of the subtle back-of-the-house work and that there are no plans to abandon the project.

Some of the company’s previous work has been slow and deliberate and that’s no different in the Las Vegas project, he said.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.