{"id":326909,"date":"2024-08-02T12:47:50","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T17:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=326909"},"modified":"2024-08-02T12:58:53","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T17:58:53","slug":"las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas’ Only Giraffe Dies at Lion Habitat Ranch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ozzie, Las Vegas\u2019 only giraffe, died early Friday morning from injuries suffered during a fall at Lion Habitat Ranch, a nonprofit sanctuary in Henderson, Nev.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Ozzie, born at Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Wichita, Kansas, was brought to Lion Habitat Ranch at 8 months old and 8 feet tall in 2014. (Image: Lion Habitat Ranch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIn the quiet hours before dawn, something startled Ozzie, causing him to stumble,\u201d the ranch posted on its Instagram page. \u201cStartled from his peaceful evening nap, Ozzie fought valiantly to rise, and our dedicated staff, owners, and veterinarians rallied around him.<\/p>\n

\"\"
As the only non-feline resident in a zoo full of them — and the only one safe for visitors, such as the little one in this undated photo, to feed — Ozzie was a highlight of a ranch visit. (Image: Lion Habitat Ranch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey worked tirelessly, providing round-the-clock medical care, their unwavering commitment a testament to the bond we share with our animal family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ranch said it\u2019s waiting for blood test results to determine if there was a medical reason for Ozzie\u2019s fall.<\/p>\n

Annoula Wylderich, an animal activist who opposes the exhibition of captive wildlife for human entertainment, told Casino.org<\/em>: \u201cWe don’t know what the extent of Ozzie\u2019s life would have been in the wild, but we do know that exotic animals in captivity don’t live as long and they don’t have the same quality of life as they would have in their natural habitat.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the wild, giraffes have a life expectancy of about 25 years. Ozzie was 9.<\/p>\n

Lion Around<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Staff members at the Lion Habitat at the MGM Grand chill with big cats as casino visitors look on in 2007. (Image: Judy Baxter\/flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lion Habitat Ranch is the only surviving piece of the free lion exhibit that ran at the MGM Grand on the Las Vegas Strip from 1999 to 2012.<\/p>\n

Built just off the casino floor across from what today is the Hakkasan restaurant and nightclub, Lion Habitat was a glass enclosure that allowed 18 lions at a time to roam\u00a0 in front of visitors and above their heads.<\/p>\n

The attraction was run by Keith Evans, who drove the lions in every morning from his ranch in Henderson.<\/p>\n

After the casino resort ended its partnership with Evans and his lions as part of a $160 million renovation, Evans opened his ranch to the public in November 2012 and formed a nonprofit organization to operate it based on revenue from ticket sales.<\/p>\n

In 2015, Clark County threatened to close Lion Habitat Ranch, which had more lions than permitted and was engaging in captive breeding. Evans agreed to stop breeding in order to remain open.<\/p>\n

The ranch, located at 382 Bruner Ave. in Henderson, will be closed on Friday, August 2 in Ozzie\u2019s honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis loss reverberates through the ranch, leaving an indelible mark on our hearts,\u201d the zoo’s Instagram post stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ozzie, Las Vegas\u2019 only giraffe, died early Friday morning from injuries suffered during a fall at Lion Habitat Ranch, a nonprofit sanctuary in Henderson, Nev. \u201cIn the quiet hours before dawn, something startled Ozzie, causing him to stumble,\u201d the ranch posted on its Instagram page. \u201cStartled from his peaceful evening nap, Ozzie fought valiantly to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":326911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3313,82013,81886],"tags":[91917,91914,91916,23,82012,91915,82092,91913],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLas Vegas' Only Giraffe Dies at Lion Habitat Ranch - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ozzie, Las Vegas\u2019 only giraffe, died early Friday morning from injuries suffered during a fall at Lion Habitat Ranch, a nonprofit sanctuary in Henderson,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Las Vegas' Only Giraffe Dies at Lion Habitat Ranch - Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ozzie, Las Vegas\u2019 only giraffe, died early Friday morning from injuries suffered during a fall at Lion Habitat Ranch, a nonprofit sanctuary in Henderson,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-02T17:47:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-02T17:58:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ozzie.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1111\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"784\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Corey Levitan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Corey Levitan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/\",\"name\":\"Las Vegas' Only Giraffe Dies at Lion Habitat Ranch - Casino.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ozzie.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-02T17:47:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-02T17:58:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/281fd7b5480c9afb75e84ffb75039f09\"},\"description\":\"Ozzie, Las Vegas\u2019 only giraffe, died early Friday morning from injuries suffered during a fall at Lion Habitat Ranch, a nonprofit sanctuary in Henderson,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ozzie.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ozzie.jpg\",\"width\":1111,\"height\":784},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Las Vegas\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Las Vegas’ Only Giraffe Dies at Lion Habitat Ranch\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/281fd7b5480c9afb75e84ffb75039f09\",\"name\":\"Corey Levitan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-3-3-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-3-3-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Corey Levitan\"},\"description\":\"Corey Levitan joined Casino.org in 2022 after a long career covering Las Vegas. He currently covers gaming news on the US West Coast, including Las Vegas. Corey spent six years covering the Vegas Strip for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where he also wrote the most popular humor column in the city\u2019s history. (For \u201cFear and Loafing,\u201d he tried out 176 Vegas jobs, including poker player, blackjack dealer and Follie Bergere dancer.) Corey has won more than 100 local, state and national awards for his journalism, which has also appeared in Rolling Stone, New York Magazine and the New York Post. Corey is a New York native whose hobbies include playing guitar, trying to be a better husband, and arguing with strangers on Facebook. Contact Corey at corey@casino.org.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corey-levitan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Las Vegas' Only Giraffe Dies at Lion Habitat Ranch - Casino.org","description":"Ozzie, Las Vegas\u2019 only giraffe, died early Friday morning from injuries suffered during a fall at Lion Habitat Ranch, a nonprofit sanctuary in Henderson,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Las Vegas' Only Giraffe Dies at Lion Habitat Ranch - Casino.org","og_description":"Ozzie, Las Vegas\u2019 only giraffe, died early Friday morning from injuries suffered during a fall at Lion Habitat Ranch, a nonprofit sanctuary in Henderson,","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2024-08-02T17:47:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-02T17:58:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1111,"height":784,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ozzie.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Corey Levitan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Corey Levitan","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/","name":"Las Vegas' Only Giraffe Dies at Lion Habitat Ranch - Casino.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ozzie.jpg","datePublished":"2024-08-02T17:47:50+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-02T17:58:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/281fd7b5480c9afb75e84ffb75039f09"},"description":"Ozzie, Las Vegas\u2019 only giraffe, died early Friday morning from injuries suffered during a fall at Lion Habitat Ranch, a nonprofit sanctuary in Henderson,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ozzie.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ozzie.jpg","width":1111,"height":784},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-only-giraffe-dies-at-lion-habitat-ranch\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Las Vegas","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Las Vegas’ Only Giraffe Dies at Lion Habitat Ranch"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/281fd7b5480c9afb75e84ffb75039f09","name":"Corey Levitan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-3-3-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-3-3-96x96.png","caption":"Corey Levitan"},"description":"Corey Levitan joined Casino.org in 2022 after a long career covering Las Vegas. He currently covers gaming news on the US West Coast, including Las Vegas. Corey spent six years covering the Vegas Strip for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where he also wrote the most popular humor column in the city\u2019s history. (For \u201cFear and Loafing,\u201d he tried out 176 Vegas jobs, including poker player, blackjack dealer and Follie Bergere dancer.) Corey has won more than 100 local, state and national awards for his journalism, which has also appeared in Rolling Stone, New York Magazine and the New York Post. Corey is a New York native whose hobbies include playing guitar, trying to be a better husband, and arguing with strangers on Facebook. Contact Corey at corey@casino.org.","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corey-levitan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326909"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326909"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":326916,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326909\/revisions\/326916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}