Lion habitat near Las Vegas mourns last of ‘Golden Girls’
The last of the “Golden Girls” at the Lion Habitat Ranch in Henderson have died.
Ranch President Keith Evans said on Facebook that Peaches died Thursday morning, three days after Tyra. Samantha, the other of the trio born Feb. 18, 1997, died in late December.
“These sisters were social to everyone they interacted with over the years and we were able to directly hand feed them to the day we lost them to old age,” Evans said on the Facebook post. “The hardest thing for us who try to save and care for these great animals, which are truly in danger in the wild, is to lose them, especially after 22 plus years.”
Lion Habitat Ranch, on 6 acres east of Las Vegas Boulevard near the M Resort, has been open to the public since 2012. Wild birds and a giraffe are also housed with the lions, which trace their roots to the original MGM lions at the iconic Las Vegas Strip resort.
“They were part of Lion Habitat Ranch family and every staff member and volunteer will miss them along with visitors who got to watch us go into the enclosures and hand feed them, and saw the love they showed to us, as part of their pride, accepting us without judging us as humans,” Evans said.
Contact Tony Garcia at tgarcia@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307. Follow @TonyGLVNews on Twitter.
