Siegfried & Roy's famous white tigers have long had a free exhibit in The Mirage. They still do, but now they have an additional space, the Secret Garden, a gorgeous area behind the dolphin exhibit. Here, white lions, Bengal tigers, an Asian elephant, a panther, and a snow leopard join the white tigers. (Many of these are bred by Siegfried & Roy and are also in their nightly show.) It's really just a glorified zoo, featuring only the big-ticket animals; however, it is a very pretty place, with plenty of foliage and some bits of Indian- and Asian-themed architecture. Zoo purists will be horrified at the smallish spaces the animals occupy, but all the animals are rotated between here and their more lavish digs at the illusionist team's home. What this does allow you to do is get very close up to a tiger, which is quite a thrill -- those paws are massive indeed. Visitors are given little portable phonelike objects on which they can play a series of programs, listening to Roy and former Mirage owner Steve Wynn discuss conservation or the attributes of each animal, and deliver anecdotes.

The Dolphin Habitat is more satisfying. It was designed to provide a healthy and nurturing environment and to educate the public about marine mammals and their role in the ecosystem. Specialists worldwide were consulted in creating the habitat, which was designed to serve as a model of a quality, man-made environment. The pool is more than eight times larger than government regulations require, and its 2.5 million gallons of man-made seawater are cycled and cleaned once every 2 hours. It must be working, as the adult dolphins here are breeding regularly. The Mirage displays only dolphins already in captivity -- no dolphins will be taken from the wild. You can watch the dolphins frolic both above and below ground through viewing windows, in three different pools. (There is nothing quite like the kick you get from seeing a baby dolphin play.) The knowledgeable staff, who surely have the best jobs in Vegas, will answer questions. If they aren't doing it already, ask them to play ball with the dolphins; they toss large beach balls into the pools, and the dolphins hit them out with their noses, leaping out of the water, cackling with dolphin glee. You catch the ball, getting nicely wet, and toss it back to them. If you have never played ball with a dolphin, shove that happy child next to you out of the way and go for it. There is also a video of a resident dolphin (Duchess) giving birth underwater; her fourth calf (30 lb. and 3 ft. long) was born just before Mother's Day in 2003 (in the spirit of Vegas, at press time The Mirage was holding an employee contest to name the newest arrival). You can stay as long as you like, which might just be hours.

Siegfried & Roy's House--When they aren't on stage, they are just plain (okay, nothing is plain with them) Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn. And they live in a house at 1639 Valley on the corner of Vegas Drive (right across from the golf course). We aren't giving much away; if you want to be anonymous, you don't put a big gold "SR" on all your gates, which by the way are huge and gilt. White lions top the massive white-stucco wall that lines the property. You can't see any of the fabulous wonders inside, but you can see bits of the vaguely Spanish mission-style dwelling peeking over the top of the walls. (If you're dying of curiosity, check out the book that's on sale at The Mirage, complete with many photos of their house, overdecorated and stuffed within an inch of its life with objects from around the world, and with tigers roaming freely.) Across the street are much smaller houses, also sporting the gold "SR" on their gates. These have been purchased by the Austrian magicians as guesthouses, turning the whole block into a sort of compound. Drive by with the windows down and maybe you can hear lions and tigers (and bears) roar.