Four 6-week-old tiger cubs — Liberty, Justice, Hirah and Maharani — are unveiled to the public at Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat on Monday, Sept. 14, 2015, at the Mirage. Justice, a light orange male, plays with Maharani, a striped white female, in their new enclosure.
Friday, Dec. 18, 2015 | 3:06 p.m.
A pair of the tiger cubs introduced to Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden at the Mirage in October have died.
According to a post today on the legendary entertainment team’s Facebook page, the cubs named Liberty and Justice have both died because of kidney failure. No day or days of those deaths have been specified, but a spokesman for the duo said the cubs died within the past two weeks.
Four cubs, all born Aug. 5, were formally introduced to the public during a small ceremony at the Villas at the Mirage on Oct. 22. The two survivors, named Hirah and Maharani, are now four months old.
From a news release issued today on the duo’s behalf:
“Despite the heroic efforts of a team of veterinary experts working closely with our animal care specialists, these two Ambassadors of Conservation were overwhelmed by an infection that ultimately caused their kidneys to fail just days apart.”
From the earlier Facebook post, issued on behalf of Roy Horn:
“All of us in the Siegfried & Roy animal family are devastated by the loss of these two majestic cubs. In the short time we had with them, they touched the hearts of people around the world. We are beyond grateful to the team of veterinary specialists from across the country and the expert staff at the Secret Garden that gave a tireless effort to treat Liberty and Justice and continue to ensure the health and safety of all of our animals.
“With this loss we are tragically reminded of the fragility of life for all of God’s creatures and our life-long commitment to conservation will forever be inspired by Liberty and Justice.”
The duo went on to report that the two surviving cubs are showing no signs of infection and “are growing bigger and stronger by the day.” Siegfried & Roy noted that they were particularly saddened that the deaths occurred near the German day of observance Totensonntag, or Sunday of the Dead, which was marked this year on Nov. 22.
Roy evoked memories of the white tiger Mantecore, who dragged him off stage at the Mirage in 2003, nearly claiming Roy’s life and ending the duo’s famed stage show. Mantecore died in March 2014. On Facebook, Roy posted: “Not since the passing of Mantacore have Siegfried and I been hit this hard.”
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.
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