Was This Educational?

Happy Monday everyone!  Hope you had a great weekend.

Our boys have been non-stop talking about tigers and monkeys ever since their zoo trip with my parents and my sister when I was away in Boston.  It was not a surprise since they loved animals before they learned how to crawl.  This weekend we decided to bring the boys to a place where they could be enchanted and educated at the same time.  That place was Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Natural Habitat at The Mirage.  A place where you supposedly come face to face with white tigers, lions, leopards, panthers and dolphins.

The place was much smaller than I thought, too small for these animals and for them to live under such extreme heat.  The minute we entered the park we were presented with a pool filled with friendly dolphins.  My first thought was that these dolphins shouldn’t be there because it was so so hot.  They should be home in the ocean.  Our next stop was the white tigers followed by leopards, panthers and lions.  Most of these animals were napping in their small habitat but one gorgeous white tiger suddenly woke up and kept staring at us.  The last time a white tiger stared into my eyes was 10 years ago.

I understand the purpose of zoos and places like this existed was to provide education and conservation.  Children can learn by having close encounter with animals so that they can see, listen, smell or even touch these animals.  This obviously can teach them about the value of endangered animals so that they understand the importance of conservation.  And this cannot be done by purely watching television or surfing on the internet.  But do we have to exploit these animals in the desert for our educational purposes?

Although I loved seeing the white tigers again but I wasn’t sure how I felt about this whole habitat thing in the desert.  It’s just not right!  Overall, I was disappointed with the visit but our boys have been talking non-stop about white tigers and waterfalls.  I guess they did learn something new after all.

 ||Mama’s Linen Field Blouse is gifted from Gudrun Sjoden (thank you!) and Dante’s stripe shirt is gifted from Fabkids (thank you!) ||

 

Thank yo so much for visiting and have a fabulous day!