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StumbleTwin tiger cubs are newest addition at Mirage
Mohan, Majestic will join Siegfried and Roy’s other tigers at Secret Garden
White-striped tiger cubs “Majestic,” left, and “Mohan” are pictured on a life-sized stuffed tiger at Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage Monday, August 16, 2010. The sibling brothers were born June 22 and weighed approximately two pounds each at birth. Their mother and father, part of a breeding program by illusionist duo Siegfried & Roy, are carriers of the rare recessive gene necessary to produce white offspring.
Monday, Aug. 16, 2010 | 4:36 p.m.
Map of The Mirage Hotel and Casino
The Mirage Hotel and Casino
3400 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas
Mohan and Majestic are like any other babies learning their surroundings — they play, they cuddle and they require lots of attention. The only difference is the two babies happen to be white-striped tiger cubs.
The Mirage welcomed the pair of 7-week-old tiger cubs to Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat last week. Mohan and Majestic are the youngest tigers the Mirage has had in the past seven years.
The cubs were born June 22 in Orlando, Fla., to parents that are part of Siegfried and Roy’s breeding program. After bonding with their mother for about two weeks, the brothers were taken to Las Vegas, then arrived last week at the Mirage.
The cubs will be on display in their nursery for the next few weeks until they are integrated with Siegfried and Roy’s other tigers at the Mirage.
Mohan and Majestic’s nursery is a small, glass room attached to the Siegfried & Roy’s gift shop, but looks much like a baby’s room. It’s littered blankets, balls and stuffed animals, including an almost life-sized, white-striped stuffed tiger.
Outside of the nursery, tourists snapped photos and "ohhed" and "awed" as the brothers wrestled with each other.
Five-year-old Jonas Hendrickson stood with his tiger mask pressed against the glass while watching the tigers intently.
"I have more stuffed animals than that," Hendrickson said proudly.
While the cubs are nearly identical, Hendrickson seemed to be able to tell them apart, pointing out his favorite through the glass.
Even at 7 weeks old, Mohan and Majestic already have begun to develop their own personalities, the cubs' neonatal care specialist Gail Hedberg said.
"One of my favorite things is when one is sleeping in your lap and the other will be a little more assertive because he isn’t the favorite at that moment," Heldberg said. "They have a lot of self-confidence, which is a goal in this program. You don’t want to give them so much attention that they can’t develop independence."
Hedberg has been working with Siegfried and Roy’s cubs for nearly 20 years, helping to raise more than 25 tiger cubs for the pair. Her job is to bottle feed and acclimate the cubs to people so other trainers can work with the tigers.
Hedberg is comfortable in the nursery with the two wild animals, letting them playfully bite her hands and jump into her arms, but she also knows when to slip out of the nursery before things get too rough. It all comes with experience.
The two cubs already are aware of their brotherly connection, Hedberg said. Like most brothers, they wrestle, rough-house and antagonize each other.
"They play really well together, but they will also play independently," Hedberg said. "They’re not so bonded to each that if one is not in sight, the other one panics."
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They are beautiful wild animals, however there is one thing missing..they are NOT in the wild..
"Garden & Habitat", what a crock! It is a freaking casino and they are there just to amuse drunks.
yeah, in the wild, they'd have a 1 in 100 chance to see the age of 5.
Sandy,They could be enjoying life in a Safari park. The only living things that should be behind any sort of cage in Las Vegas are criminals
How cute they are, must get back to "The Mirage", that international one, you know, next time I am on the Strip.
Btw many wild animals, like gorillas, godzillas, tigers, lions, snakes et al are caged for security reasons, even within a zoo. They don't do any harm within their cages as long as they get feeded well.
Don't worry about it too much. These tiger kids will be fine. I once knew a guy in Florida having his own crocodiles caged. Even me, I refused to take a debt collector job to bring in the cash, which the State of Florida still wanted to charge that guy.
You know, I want to stay alive.
I'm all for breeding programs to help sustain wild populations but when it comes to breeding animals so they can make a buck for the owners, I'll pass.
I noticed they left out the part about how they have to force the animals to inbreed so they can retain their their color.
Hint: White tigers don't exist in the wild for a reason. Those rare mutants to do appear quickly die out because with no camouflage they starve to death before being able to pass their genes along.
First off obviously none of you have been to the Secret Garden. The animals are very well taken care of, there is no inbreeding. Siegfried and Roy have a great group of handlers who care for the animals on a daily basis. The Tigers and Lions are not always at the Mirage, they do travel out to Siegfried and Roy's home also. These two new cubs came from Flordia and are a addition to Siegfried and Roy line of tigers. As are the last set of snow white cubs who came from a zoo Alabama.
@PEACHES: How rude of you to brand visitors to the Garden and Habitat as "drunks" - I wasn't drunk when I visited and nor were any of the many families and couples who were there.
VegasGirl12 - Don't worry about peaches, she's already proved time and again that all her comments are simply incoherent babbling at best, the rest of us have learned to just skip over her comments.
These animals are destined to be in a zoo (they're WHITE tigers people, throw them into the wild... or even a refuge for that matter and they'll be dead in a month), it might as well be the well maintained, multi-million dollar mirage exhibit full of qualified and loving handlers rather than some second rate traveling barnum and bailey bs.
Friggin' cute btw.
They are beautiful and I'm sure they'll be well cared for and enjoyed by those who can be part of their lives.
For now, it's wonderful to show them off to those who'd never see a tiger, and it's hurting no one - not the tigers - not the viewers, and I'm surprised to see so many negative remarks and slurs on this comment page.
To all of the tiger fans/supporters: Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrRPA25UB...
I agree with Penny!!And as for DMC's comment... Today, there is such a large number of white tigers in captivity that inbreeding is no longer necessary. And they didn't HAVE to force them to imbred...SOME did and it has also been possible to expand the white-gene pool by outcrossing white tigers with unrelated orange tigers and then using the cubs to produce more white tigers!
Oh, who gives a damn about caged or uncaged? SOMEONE is breeding the white tiger which WAS virtually extinct. Find something a little more challenging to be negative about people!!!
I can't bear to cage any animal, so, I'm torn on this one. I've been to the habitat and the animals just look so dang bored that I feel sorry for them. On the other hand, like one commenter said, in the wild they probably wouldn't make it to 5yrs old.
They are cute. But they should be out in the wild so if people want to oooohhhh and ahhhhh how about visiting them where they belong. I feel so bad for those tigers. Taken away from there mom at 2 weeks at least with domestic animals we give them 6-8 weeks.
Somebody give them a cheeseburger ;)
Mohan and Majestic are so adorable and I love their names. Best friends forever!