Lion Habitat Ranch

A Visit to The Lion Habitat Ranch


Blonde4ever visits the Lion Habitat Ranch, where MGM Grand’s lions enjoy retirement…

If you have been a frequent Vegas visitor, you remember the lions that were on display for many years at the MGM Grand. The public was very disappointed when MGM decided to do away with this attraction but never fear; you can still visit the lions in a different location. The Lion Habitat Ranch is the home of the big cats, and I hear they now have a giraffe and birds in residence too. The Ranch is a nonprofit organization, so your entrance fees help pay for the upkeep of these gorgeous animals. It is located at Corner of Bruner Ave and Bermuda Rd, two streets east of Las Vegas Blvd, not far from the M Hotel and Casino. Previously I would have considered this a difficult place to get to, but with the affordability of Uber and Lyft, you can now visit this special place without breaking the bank.

The first thing I learned on the day I decided to visit this Ranch was that I have no idea what a lion sounds like. My total experience with lion roars consisted of the what the MGM lion sounds like before movies. Believe me; that is not an accurate representation. My roommate and I happened to be staying at the Mirage this particular trip with its Secret Garden out back. One morning we heard the most horrendous sounds coming from that area. “What the heck is that?” I queried. My friend replied, “I think it is a lion.” We were on the 25th floor; could we really hear a lion roar from so far away? I found out later that it was entirely possible.

We arrived at the Ranch a few hours later and paid our admittance fee of $25. At the same time we were required to sign a waiver basically stating “If the lions eat you, it is not our fault.” That is a loose translation of course but this the first time I have ever had to sign a document like that before entering a wildlife park, so it impressed upon me that this was serious business and that you had better pay attention to the safety rules in this place.

We had only just entered the ranch when we were met with the most ungodly sounds that shook the ground. I have never heard anything even remotely like this before. I wondered if there were speakers on posts broadcasting these noises as we walked in, but no, it seems those were the actual sounds coming out of the cats. Apparently, they knew we were there, and they weren’t happy about it. Considering we had only walked about ten paces, I didn’t understand how that was possible, but that is what happened.

After I had got over the shock of the sounds, the next thing I noticed was the large chain link enclosures and surrounding all those enclosures were railings about six feet back from the fence themselves. This sent the clear message that sticking any part of your anatomy through these fences would be an extremely bad idea. I learned there was more than one reason why we were instructed to stay back; as I approached the first male lion, he decided to spray urine in a huge arc that went about ten feet outside of the cage. He missed me happily, but the woman next to me wasn’t so lucky and spent the rest of her day smelling like lion urine. I don’t remember seeing these signs when I was there, but they are up now.

Lion Habitat Ranch

The adult lions, like their smaller counterparts, seem to spend much of the day sleeping. I hear that getting there in the morning is preferable as it is feeding time and they are more lively. But we had visited in the afternoon so that after the thrill of seeing big cats up close wears off you can only watch them sleep for so long. Luckily for us, we came to a more lively bunch of “teenage” lions a few cages later.

Lion Habitat Ranch

Lion Habitat Ranch

There were about six in an enclosure with a staff member. They were a delight to watch. If you disregarded their size, they appeared to play just like kittens. The keeper was very knowledgeable and helpful and answered all our questions. We must have stood there for an hour. Eventually, we moved on and passed more adults having their siestas.

The final cage we came to contained adorable cubs who were available for encounters and pictures for an additional fee.

Lion Habitat Ranch

All of the MGM lions appeared to be loved and well cared for so I am happy they have this place to spend their retirement years. The Lion Habitat Ranch is a great place for a family outing or to just take a break from the Strip on your next Vegas vacation.

[Photos: Blonde4ever, Yelp!]

15 thoughts on “A Visit to The Lion Habitat Ranch

  1. I’ve been on the fence about visiting the habitat, but after reading your report, I think I will. Thanks for sharing. :)

  2. Really enjoyed the article. It brought back the day we spent there…and if I recall correctly, the lady who did not mover out of the way quickly enough had a stroller with her, so I imagine just having a shower later that day did not solve all of her problems, LOL.

  3. Thank for sharing this report! I kind of miss the Lion Habitat! It was nice to check out, even though the lions were always sleeping when I would visit! And by the way, the lions in the Secret Garden will spray as well! Have seen some people get hit a couple of times! Serves ’em right for texting while walking through the exhibit!

  4. Please tell me the last photo of the cubs was either just them being transported from one point to another or the cage looks a lot smaller in the photo than it is?

    1. The picture of the cubs is not one of mine…my cub pictures did not turn out. But yes I believe they are just being transported from place to place. I did not see anything in a tiny cage. No worries.

      1. thank you! We have considered going to the ranch but haven’t made it yet – I cried both times we had photos with the cubs at MGM, it was just so amazing and they were so well looked after and clearly really loved…that little cage freaked me out completely.

  5. Thank you for posting this. It’s always been on my ‘list’ of things to do, but have not made it there. I miss the lions at MGM, would always go see them in the morning during feeding. I wonder if they have any bus service that goes out that way, I’ll have to check into it.

  6. We had our picture taken with two cubs at the MGM Grand–Chili and Pepper. Wonder where they are now.

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