Friday, July 9, 1999 | 9:21 a.m.
Got a 50-foot-tall ball of yarn, anyone? How about a scratching post the size of a small building?
Keith Evans and family could use both.
"To me, these are cats," Evans said. "They are really like my pet cats."
But for Evans, the word "cat" has always meant something a little more robust and exotic than our own finicky felines. The Las Vegas resident of 25 years and one of the country's most renowned animal behavior specialists is the designer and head trainer at the exotic MGM Grand lion habitat.
The glass-encased, multilevel structure opened July 1 and cost $9 million. With more than 5,000 square feet, there is ample room for the big cats to roam (five were on display at a special VIP opening earlier this week) and the sprawling display is furnished with stone, Acacia trees, assorted plant life, four waterfalls and a pond.
Admission is free daily between 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Visitors are able to view the animals either from above or below through a glass tunnel cutting through the habitat. Guests can also gawk at the 35-foot structure from a viewing area outside of it and have a clear view of the lions as they are fed and move about.
The lions, in turn, observe a different kind of wild life, overlooking an expanse of gaming machines on the casino floor.
Construction of the habitat took eight months. Evans, for now, is spending 12 hours per day at the hotel.
"It's our home away from home," Evans said. "It's a $9 million home you don't want to leave."
But he does, transporting all the lions who have been eating, scratching and strutting their stuff for 12 hours to and from an eight-acre Las Vegas home Evans calls "The Cat House."
"They ride in style, believe me," Evans said. "They're driven in big cargo trucks, like the large air-conditioned Ryder moving vans, and each one has its own 2,500-square-foot cage. We do take great care not only in making sure they're healthy, but comfortable as well."
Evans owns all 18 lions (he's soon taking in seven more) used in the habitat as well as three tigers and two snow leopards. He and his wife, Beverly, employ a full-time staff of 15 assistants.
"It takes a special talent, special affection, love and patience to handle these animals," Beverly Evans said. "Everything we do here is for the cats' benefit. You have to treat them with a healthy respect."
The lions appearing in the habitat range in age from the 11-year-old Baby Lion to Louie-B, born just six weeks ago. The latter poses for photos at the habitat for $20 apiece.
"Everyone loves having their photos taken with Louie B," Beverly Evans said. "Even my parents do it. They treat him like a grandkid."
Evans became interested in exotic animals purely by accident. He was in his early 20s, vacationing in Cocoa Beach, Fla., when he came upon the taping of a television commercial for a local Mercury Cougar dealership.
The car was OK. But the star of the commercial -- a sleek cougar -- was what drew the crowd.
"I was just taken by the animal and I couldn't keep my eyes off it," Evans, who lived in Cleveland at the time, said. "We had wild horses on our property at home, but nothing like this cat."
Evans sought out the cat's owner, who also owned and bred leopards, and the two began a long-distance dialogue that resulted in Evans purchasing his own cougars and leopards. Largely self-taught, he was able to gain the trust and affection of the animals (he also received occasional tips over the phone) and has hardly a scratch to show for more than 30 years of work with instinctively aggressive animals.
"You have to be careful at all times, that's one thing you always have to remember," Evans said. "The power of these animals is incredible. If you're not kind or attentive, you could find yourself in an unfortunate situation."
A leopard playfully cut into Evans' arm soon after he began handling animals, but his other minor nicks have merely been the result of accepted work hazards.
Even on a well-behaved, carefully-trained animal, claws easily (and accidentally) slice through skin.
"I got cut the other day feeding a cat," Evans said, showing a scabbed-over cut on his left hand. "That kind of thing is going to happen, no matter what. That's always been a risk from the time I started back home."
Soon after bringing the large cats to his family's property in Cleveland, Evans began dreaming of creative uses for the exotic animals.
"I wanted to be able to share them, share the experience, with the public," he said.
As the story goes, Evans hoped to open a bar in San Francisco incorporating wildlife animals. He pursued this goal by taking a trip to California in 1974. En route, his plane made an overnight stop in Las Vegas, and Evans visited the old Tuley Springs animal park for a fund-raiser.
A woman in attendance accidentally dropped her purse in a leopard cage, and Evans cautiously pulled it free. An impressed park official phoned Evans that night, offering him a job, and it became a career.
"I have other interests," Evans said, "but as far as a career, nothing could compare with this."
By the late '70s, Evans had become partners with magician Doug Henning and worked in several Las Vegas stage shows, showcasing his animals. Evans' animals have been featured on television shows such as "Fantasy Island" and "The Tonight Show" and various national TV commercials. His most recent national TV appearance was on "Donny & Marie" in May.
Sharing an affinity for lions, Evans and MGM have been professionally linked since the '80s. Evans was caring for the lion at Reno's MGM Grand five years ago when he met Beverly.
"I was a secretary at the time with no real interest in exotic animals, but I went to see the lion and met Keith there," she said. "I was totally impressed with how he could manage an animal of that size and power."
Keith and Beverly have no children. No matter. As Beverly said, "These are our kids."
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