VICTORY: Las Vegas Mirage Dolphinarium to Close Permanently

By Mark J. Palmer

For years activists have opposed the keeping of bottlenose dolphins in the special Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas.

But today November 22nd, the Hotel and its new owners (the Hard Rock Casino chain) announced that the exhibit of the wild animals (dolphins, lions and tigers) would be closed permanently, and the animals moved to other facilities.

Many individuals and organizations have repeatedly protested the keeping of the dolphins in outside tanks that had no shade from the desert sun. Their determination and spirit deserve credit for finally shutting down this facility.

The International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) of Earth Island Institute has closely followed the issue. We sent joint letters with our colleagues at the Animal Welfare Institute to the leadership of the Mirage Hotel and Hard Rock Casinos, offering our help in retiring the dolphins to a seaside sanctuary. We further ran several blogs about the facility and kept in touch with Las Vegas activists.

More recently, three dolphins died within six months, and the Secret Garden was closed to the public pending investigation of the deaths.

A major unknown is where the animals might go. It is likely, despite our efforts, that the dolphins will go to another dolphinarium rather than a sanctuary. This would be an improvement, but not a very big one.

The dolphins would do better in a seaside sanctuary, where they could experience the tides and the currents, hunt fish, and not be subject to daily routines of doing repetitive tricks for tourists. In such a sanctuary, the dolphins would be fed and given veterinary care. At some point in the future, they might be released back into the wild, but not if they get housed in yet another aquarium bent on exploiting their tricks for money.

It is also unknown where the tigers and lions will go – hopefully to a sanctuary for those animals.

At least they will be out of that desert sun.

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Dolphins in captivity cannot speak for themselves, and the industry that confines them would not listen anyway. Please help end captivity for whales and dolphins by contributing today to the efforts of the International Marine Mammal Project. It often takes many years to right wrongs, as we have seen in Las Vegas with the dolphins. We deeply appreciate your support.