roy’s

Last of Siegfried & Roy’s Tigers and Lions Leaves Las Vegas for Sanctuaries

The last surviving white tigers and lions belonging to magicians Siegfried & Roy have left Las Vegas. This leaves the Strip without a single exotic cat appearing, performing, or residing there for the first time since 1967.

Siegfried & Roy perform with one of their white tigers on stage at The Mirage during the heyday of both their magic act and of the acceptability of exploiting wild animals for entertainment purposes. (Image: Shutterstock)

The animals were already relocated by The Mirage, where they had been residing — at least in part — at Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden for the past 30 years, to two animal sanctuaries. According to a statement released from The Mirage after the fact, WildCat Ridge Sanctuary in Scotts Mills, Ore. and In-Sync Exotics in Wylie, Tex. were chosen after an “extensive search process.”

The Mirage did not state how many cats were relocated or what specific types of cats were relocated to each sanctuary.

“The facilities chosen for the cats’ forever homes demonstrated the ability to continue the same quality of care with thoughtful attentiveness to the well-being of Siegfried & Roy’s animal family as they have received at The Secret Garden,” the press release stated.

Since Strip resorts don’t alert the media to highly controversial events in which things can go wrong, there were no photographs available of the exotic cats leaving The Mirage in Las Vegas. So *Casino.org* asked Bing’s ChatGPT AI to create one. (Image: Bing ChatGPT)

According to The Mirage, both sanctuaries have “deep experience in providing for the long-term care for exotic cats with their experienced animal care teams and excellent facilities that provide a peaceful home to a wide range of wildcats.”

Now They’ve Disappeared for Real

Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn were the performers to bring white lions and tigers to the Strip in 1967. So it’s fitting that their big cats were the last to go. You won’t find a big-cat show on The Strip anymore, and you aren’t likely to find them in the future.

Whereas big cat shows and zoos were once seen as an acceptable way to educate the kiddos about wildlife and conservation, public attitudes have changed about the benefits of exploiting animals raised in captivity.

The career-ending attack on Roy Horn by his white tiger, Mantacore, during the duo’s magic show in 2003, served as a defining moment for the world to rethink its position.

Horn died from complications of COVID-19 in 2020. Fischbacher died the following year from pancreatic cancer.

Hard Rock International, the new owner of The Mirage, permanently closed Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden last year and announced that all its animals would be rehoused.

The departure of the exotic cats follows the departure of the last three dolphins from the property in May to CoralWorld Ocean Park’s Sea Sanctuary at Water Bay in St. Thomas.

PETA Reacts

After today’s relocation news, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals e-mailed Casino.org the following response.

“Champagne corks are popping at PETA,” said organization spokesperson David Perle. Added Debbie Metzler, the organization’s director of captive animal welfare: “Kind tourists today won’t go anywhere near cruel and archaic animal acts like those from Siegfried & Roy, and these dangerous spectacles have all but done a disappearing act from the Strip.”

The post Last of Siegfried & Roy’s Tigers and Lions Leaves Las Vegas for Sanctuaries appeared first on Casino.org.

Siegfried & Roy’s Las Vegas Mansion Lists for $3M

The most famous private residence in Las Vegas hit the real-estate market this week. The 8-acre estate at 1639 Valley Drive, listed with Redfin for $3M, is called Jungle Palace. It’s where Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy lived with the former magic act’s tigers and lions until he died of complications from COVID-19 in May 2020.

Siegfried Fischbacher — who lived a few miles away, on an 80-acre compound called Little Bavaria — died less than a year after his partner of pancreatic cancer at age 81.

Siegfried & Roy's house — The Las Vegas manse where Roy, of Siegfried & Roy, raised his big cats can be yours for $3M. (Image: *Redfin*)

The Jungle Palace was built in 1954 and purchased by Siegfried & Roy in 1982. According to Redfin, a private party purchased the estate one year ago for $1.87M and is looking to flip it for a tidy profit.

The Moroccan-themed compound features a 8,750 square-foot main house, three guest houses, multiple water features including three pools and a jacuzzi, six electric gates, two detached studios, a bird sanctuary, and multiple animal enclosures. (Animals not included.)

Oddly, though the listing’s main photo shows an entry gate emblazoned with two faux-gold “SR” monograms, it makes no mention of the estate’s biggest selling point: Siegfried & Roy themselves.

Siegfried & Roy — The original tiger kings pose with Mantra the tiger in the library at the Jungle Palace in the ’90s. (Image: S&R Productions)

While Fischbacher was in charge of the illusions, Horn raised the animals at the Jungle Palace. According to a Vanity Fair profile, all of Siegfried & Roy’s cats slept in bed with him here until reaching the age of 1. He also swam with his cats every day in the estate’s largest pool.

“My animals are the love affair of my life,” Horn told People magazine. “They are the first ones I talk to in the morning and the last ones I speak to at night.”

One of several animal enclosures on the Jungle Palace property’s 8 acres. (Image: *Redfin*)

S&R 101

Fischbacher and Horn met while working on a cruise ship in 1957. They first performed in Las Vegas 10 years later as a featured act in the “Folies Bergere” show at the Tropicana. They then appeared in a show at Bally’s before headlining for the first time at the Frontier.

By 1990, their burgeoning popularity had earned them their own $30 million show in their own theater at the Mirage. Their 13-year run was one of the most lavish and successful in Las Vegas history.

The pair made a few public appearances following Horn’s mauling by his 7-year-old white tiger, Mantecore, but never resumed their full show and retired from show business in 2010.

Horn continued caring for Mantecore until the tiger’s death in 2014. The tiger lived alternately at the Jungle Palace, at Little Bavaria, and at Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat.

“When you see Roy’s face when he is with Mantecore, it brightens,” Fischbacher told the Las Vegas Weekly in 2012. “It’s as if nothing happened, you know?”

Last October, the Neon Museum told tickets for the public to tour the Jungle Palace, though most of the duo’s personal items had already been auctioned off last June in LA.

Last December, Hard Rock International purchased The Mirage, permanently closing the habitat. It relocated three of its six remaining dolphins to Sea World San Diego, and is reportedly working on relocating all of Siegfried & Roy’s surviving former cats.

Last August, the Las Vegas City Council voted 5-1 to demolish 12 of Little Bavaria’s 80 acres to allow a local developer to build a four-story apartment complex on that site.

The post Siegfried & Roy’s Las Vegas Mansion Lists for $3M appeared first on Casino.org.

Last of Siegfried & Roy’s Tigers and Lions Leaves Las Vegas for Sanctuaries

Now They’ve Disappeared for Real

PETA Reacts

Siegfried & Roy’s Las Vegas Mansion Lists for $3M

S&R 101

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