MGM and lions are forever linked, and at the MGM, a giant lion’s statue greets you on the street before you enter the casino. But lions aren’t just outside at the MGM, they are inside too.
Only the lions inside the casino are real, live lions. Fortunately for the patrons of the casino, those lions are safely behind almost two inches of glass in the MGM Grand Lion Habitat. You can check it out in the video below.
The Lion Habitat is absolutely free, and it’s a pretty darned cool exhibit, especially for an attraction in the middle of a casino.
Kids will love seeing the lions this up close – you can even walk in a glass tunnel directly under the lions and see them just inches away from your face, about as close as you probably ever want to get to a live lion.
If you are there at the right times, you can even see a pair of trainers in with the lions, feeding them, grooming them, and playing with them. It’s is quite and amazing site, seeing people in such intimate relationships with these massive and powerful animals.
MGM Lion “Attack” Incident
These trainers’ jobs are not without their dangers either. In fact, in September of 2010, one of the trainers was bitten in the leg by a lion before the second trainer managed to pull the lion off him. Onlookers captured the incident on video, which you can watch below. (Fortunately, the trainer was not badly wounded, and it is said likely that the lion was actually not attacking but engaging in aggressive play that got out of control.)
According to the MGM, the trainer was treated and released and would be returning to work with the lions. The lions are, in fact, kept at a large ranch outside of Las Vegas and brought in on about 4 hour shifts into the climate controlled enclosure.
The arrangement works well for the lions, who have many acres to roam at the ranch, and their time in the enclosure is spent playing, sleeping, and helping to educate the public.
