Zoo Life

For some people, leopards are dangerous animals. Well, we can be. We can drag our prey into the trees and become camouflaged.  We’re capable of lots of things… but not in a zoo.

My name is Makucha, and I am a leopard, not a cheetah or a jaguar!  My home is located at the Mirage Hotel’s Secret Garden Animal Park in Las Vegas. We don’t have big exhibits like most zoos, but we do have lots of enrichment, which actually matters more than a big space unlike how most people assume.

I have lots of neighbors. There are the dolphins at the front of the zoo, who are extremely annoying. They have shows every day, and they think they’re so cute. There are the tigers, who think they’re the bosses of all the animals; then there are the lions, who couldn’t be any sweeter.  There’s my panther friend, Shadow, who I’ve known ever since we were cubs. Finally, there’s Gildah, the elephant. She is like a mother figure to us, and she is gentle, wise, but a bit intimidating. 

Life isn’t that bad. Lots of people come to see us every day, and we are taken care of really well. Every night when the zoo closes, we get out of our exhibits and we are free to do anything we want! Some of the activities include: dolphin-ball, turtle-curling, Poker, Blackjack, and other Vegas-related activities.  We just have to get back to our exhibits before sunrise, and get at least some sleep while it’s still dark.

With my 5th birthday coming around the corner, I realized I had spent almost a quarter of my life in a cage and that I’ve been doing the same thing every day: I stand over there, sleep over here, eat some meat, walk around and relax. Besides those doubts, it was still a good birthday.  I got a cake from the keepers, I received presents like a cat toy, a new litter box, and a cardboard antelope to attack with muffins inside.

Then, it all fell apart.  We were having a good time as I blew out my candles and devoured my bacon-flavored cake, when my friends asked me a few questions.

“What did you wish for?” asked Obasi the lion.

“Nope. Can’t tell you that,” I replied

“Come on, tell us!” cried Gildah.

“No siree, I’m not telling you, it's bad luck! You want some bad luck? Cause I’ll blabber out!” I warned them.

“Just tell us! I mean, what could happen, really?” asked Jill the tiger.

“Fine,” I replied. “I wished I could go to the WILD!”

Everyone froze. The tigers spat out their drinks. Gildah gasped. Obasi and Eshe froze in shock.  Even the dolphins looked up from their tank in disbelief. 

“I told you it was bad luck,” I said.

“The wild?! That is the worst idea I ever heard!” cried Tony the tiger.

“It’s unsanitary!” said Frank the dolphin.

“I know, I know.  But I want to see what life outside the zoo is like!  At least for a little while!” I replied.

They didn’t take too kindly. They told me that the zoo has the perfect life, and that since I was born here I wouldn’t even know how to survive in the wild.

That night I slumped in my tree, discouraged. My own friends didn’t even respect my birthday wish, which made me wonder if they were even my friends at all. Then, I had an idea!  An idea that I knew would be dangerous and risky. I would leave the zoo, explore the city, and come back in the morning before the zoo opened. No one would even know I was gone, right?

My exhibit has a bit of a low fence that is too tall for humans to climb on, but one that I can easily jump over. Without warning, I jumped out of my exhibit and gunned it towards the zoo walls. And finally, I took a deep breath and jumped over the walls. I froze as soon as I made it over. I was free.

I didn’t even know where to begin, I was amazed at what Las Vegas was like outside the Zoo the entire time. So I started walking around, checking out all the new sights, and smelling new scents like a car, cigarettes, and food being cooked from Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen restaurant.

The city looked like a light show that kept on going at night, with all the neon from the hotels, costumed walk-a-round characters like Mickey Mouse and Optimus Prime asking for money for the pictures that are taken, and ads promoting famous celebrities which included: Gabriel Iglesias - a comedian who is extremely fat and funny who will be performing for three nights at the MGM Grand, Chris Brown - a singer with a controversial past who was having a concert for two nights at Caesar’s Palace, Green Day - a band with a great influence on music, and our very own Siegfried and Roy who are magicians with great illusions, performing nightly at the Mirage alongside “The Beatles Love,” a Beatles-themed show.

I didn’t walk very far from the entrance of the Mirage, and only made it to the main pond where guests can see the volcano when police cars with their flashing lights and sirens and animal control with their big vans spotted me and swerved over to me.

At that moment, I realized that I had made a huge mistake. I immediately roared in panic and darted away. I ran for my life, scared and confused as blue and red colors flashed by and sirens blasted with the sound of people yelling soon following.  A helicopter appeared and cast a spotlight on me. It followed me like how a lion chases zebras in the middle of the night in Africa.

“Don’t let the animal get away!” cried a police officer.

“Get the tranquilizer gun!” ordered the Animal Control officer.

A dart fired, but it missed. I was too fast for it to get me. I then saw a palm tree that was bent over straight ahead, and climbed up it.  The police and Animal Control vehicles came to a halt, and immediately, officers came from every vehicle and began to surround the tree to trap me. The helicopter turned sideways and turned the spotlight on me also.

“Surround the tree!” exclaimed one officer.

“No time to lose! Get a net in case the animal falls!” barked the Police Chief.

“As of now, the leopard is currently in a tree, with police and Animal Control surrounding him. They are getting ready to fight back in case the leopard makes his move,” explained Jane Harris of ABC Station 6 Las Vegas. 

An Animal Control officer got a tranquilizer gun and pulled the trigger.  No dart. I then decided to take my chances and try to spook them.  I jumped down from the tree and roared in anger, which immediately drove the officers into a state of panic. I pounced on one officer and growled in his face. He looked terrified, with sweat coming down, his eyes in panic, and rapid breathing as he was pinned down.

At that moment, a dart hit my right leg, and I growled in pain. The officers immediately got back on their feet to see what had happened. I walked around for a bit, and then fell down gently. Within a few seconds, I was fast asleep.

The next morning, I woke up in my exhibit, now surrounded by higher fences, and barbed wires so that I wouldn’t be able to jump out again. All the other animals were there too. Some were relieved that I survived, but some were mad that I had caused a huge scene last night and called me crazy that I would even do that.

“Are you okay?” asked Jill.

“How could you do something like that?” lectured Obasi.

“We were so worried about you!” cried Gildah.

“I thought we’d never see you again!” said Eshe.

“You’re stupid…I admire it,” complimented Tony.

“Don’t worry! Look at me, I’m fine,” I assured them.

The zoo was closed all day for an investigation, and they’re working on upgrading all the animal’s exhibits except the dolphins’ to ensure that no more escapes will happen.  But I secretly learned all of the information needed in order to escape, so we still get to go out every night since then. Later that same night, Shadow and I were talking, and he congratulated me on my escape, and said no other animal was brave enough to actually do that.

“I still can’t believe you made it all that way!” Shadow said.

“I know!  I would’ve gotten farther if I hadn't come down from that tree.  I had to drive them off for a little bit, you know,” I explained.

“Yeah, but you got your wish.  You got to see what life outside the zoo is like.”

“True,” I replied.

“Keep this up, and soon they might have you transferred to Africa!” he exclaimed.

“Africa?” I asked.