MGM Grand denies exploitation of lions

David Strow

Friday, June 9, 2000 | 10:46 a.m.

A California-based animal rights organization is taking aim at the MGM Grand hotel-casino's popular Lion Habitat, calling it exploitation of wild animals for entertainment purposes.

Films produced by the legendary Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio have always opened with the roaring of its trademark lion, and MGM's sister company, MGM Grand Inc., has long distinguished itself with lion symbols and statues. But the Animal Protection Institute says the Lion Habitat dishonors the MGM mascot.

"The lion is a well-recognized symbol of MGM," wrote Monica Engebretson, program assistant with the institute, in a Feb. 1 letter to MGM Grand's top management. "Confining and exploiting the very animal that you respectfully consider your mascot is oxymoronic."

MGM Grand calls such charges nonsense.

"The African lion is a part of MGM Grand's heritage, and has been a long-standing icon of the hotel's image," wrote Felix Rappaport, senior vice president of hotel operations, and Keith Evans, owner of the lions, in a joint Feb. 21 response to Engebretson. "It is our goal to protect and nurture these majestic creatures. It would be impossible to find anyone who loves and has greater respect for these exotic animals than Keith Evans and the MGM Grand."

In the spring issue of its magazine "Animal Issues," the institute called on its members to "let MGM Grand know of your disgust" over the habitat by "not patronizing the casino or any other MGM Grand operation so long as this exhibit continues."

Further, the Sacramento organization called on its 85,000 members to engage in a letter-writing campaign to top MGM Grand officials in an attempt to convince them to shut the exhibit down.

"It's mainly there to make money off of them (the lions)," Engebretson said. "You can't get around the fact that this is a casino, not their natural habitat.

"This doesn't teach (visitors) anything about conservation or respect for animals. It teaches them that it's O.K. to do with wild animals anything we want to do with them. Everything they're doing is legal, but it's wrong."

The goal, Engebretson said, is to convince animal lovers to steer clear of the MGM Grand -- "so that (the exhibit) is not a draw, but a deterrent."

"People have lots of casino choices," Engebretson said. "They're clearly not interested in ethics. They're clearly interested in money."

But an MGM Grand spokesman suggested the animal protection group is interested in little more than creating controversy for fund-raising purposes.

"There are some people opposed to any animals in captivity, and that is an ongoing philosophical debate which the public has long ago answered," said MGM Grand spokesman Alan Feldman. "The public votes with their feet.

"If you take the letters we receive from people who express concern about (the lions') care, or the people who totally object ... it pales in comparison to the number of people who go through and give us positive comments."

Feldman added that the habitat was built "with the optimum health and welfare of the animals in mind."

"This was all done in consultation with experts," Feldman said. "I find it was done to the highest possible standards."

But the Animal Protection Institute disagrees.

"The stone is cement, the trees are fake, the lion roars the tourists hear are on tape, and the 'see-through tunnel' that runs through the habitat leads straight to the gift shop," the Animal Issues article said. "Again, wild animals are being exploited for entertainment."

The lion habitat opened last July. Built at a cost of $9 million, the 5,300-square-foot habitat is billed as a chance for MGM Grand visitors to have an up-close encounter with lions -- and a wake-up call to become involved in their preservation in the wild by contributing to conservatory groups.

When not at the habitat, the lions are kept at an 8-acre facility called "The Cat House."

In their joint letter to the institute, Evans and Rappaport said the MGM Grand habitat "was meticulously designed to be environmentally acceptable to (the lions)."

"It is our goal to have our guests fall in love with our lions so they will be willing to donate to organizations that save the lands the lions inhabit," Evans and Rappaport wrote. "Humans are still able to trophy hunt lions in the wild. It is our hope that through this effort the predator mentality will start to fade, and the need to kill lions will develop into a love and desire to save them and their habitat for future generations."

Moreover, a portion of the $20 fee paid by visitors for a souvenir photo with the lions goes to "organizations that actively engage in the preservation of lions," the men wrote.

But one of the institute's biggest fears, Engebretson said, is that visitors will fall in love a little too much with the lions -- and start thinking about adopting one.

With a "surplus" of captive lions, Engebretson said mistreatment of the animals is becoming a growing problem. These surplus animals are sold off to unsuitable owners, such as private owners or circuses, and end up being mistreated, she said.

They also pose a danger to their owners -- in Texas recently, a 3-year-old boy lost his arm to a "pet" tiger owned by his family, Engebretson said.

"How many lions can the MGM possibly have every year if they're producing cubs?" Engebretson said. "I don't know how they could continue to breed them and not contribute to the problem. At the very least, they could educate the public on why they don't make good pets."

Feldman denied that private ownership was being encouraged by the exhibit -- or that there was any intent to sell off any of the lions.

"Most animal scientists will tell you that (mating) is a sign of comfort in their environment," Feldman said. "So far, the entire family is all together. (New cubs) are loved and nurtured and welcomed into the family."

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