Thursday, Feb. 6, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Wednesday night they were the center of attention again, fawned over by The Tonight Show host Jay Leno, actor Chevy Chase and model Rebecca Romijn.
The four are rare white lion cubs, now three weeks old, who are the latest addition to a growing menagerie of rare white lions and tigers being raised by illusionists Siegfried and Roy.
The Tonight Show appearance was the first public viewing of the latest members of Siegfriend and Roy's world renown collection, which now includes 11 rare white lions and 38 white tigers.
The four - who were carried on stage in a gift-wrapped box - will grow to about 700 pounds each, Roy Horn told Leno. They will be raised at the entertainers' desert compound in Las Vegas, and will eventually be on view at the Siegfried and Roy Secret Garden, a habitat for their rare animals at The Mirage Hotel-Casino. The illusionists began their eighth year as headliners at The Mirage on Saturday.
The four cubs, each weighing less than 20 pounds, are named Vision, Destiny, Passion and Quest.
They squawked and squirmed as Leno and Chase handled them gingerly during the taping of Leno's show at the MGM Grand Hotel-Casino.
It wasn't the first time for Chase, whose new movie, "Vegas Vacation," opens Feb. 14.
In the film, Chase has an encounter with some of the animals while attending the illusionists' show at The Mirage.
The newest lions were born in the Johannesburg Zoological Gardens, which is working with the illusionists in the propagation of the rare animals.
"These are the youngest we have brought over," Roy said at a photo session after the show as Destiny sucked contentedly on the entertainer's finger, the animal's eyes drooping sleepily.
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