Wednesday, October 15, 2003
By Cathy Scott
White lies are spinning out of the Mirage hotel-casino these days. White lies
about a white Bengal tiger named Montecore, 7, who was purchased from Mexico
when he was 6 months old and who has performed on stage a thousand times. He's
the tiger who mauled Roy Horn.
Watching the spin is like seeing men scramble into lifeboats as their ship is
sinking. This isn't to lessen the fact that people everywhere are wishing the
critically injured Horn well, but the facts are the facts.
The first eyewitness reports said Horn was mauled and dragged. A few days later,
the spinmeisters called it a rescue by a tiger who was protecting the
59-year-old German-born illusionist.
Steve Wynn, who originally hired Siegfried and Roy, offered his own rendition of
what happened. So did manager Bernie Yuman -- as did Horn's partner, Siegfried
Fischbacher. The problem is Wynn was in Idaho at the time of the attack. As for
Yuman, he said on national TV that he was at home. And Fischbacher? He told
reporters he was in his dressing room changing.
Still, the trio have continued to call the attack "an accident."
According to witnesses, here's how it went down: Montecore grabbed Horn's arm in
his mouth. Horn bopped Montecore's nose with his microphone, trying to get him
to let go. Montecore then slapped Horn with his paw, knocking him down. Next,
the growling tiger stood over Horn, pinning him. That's when witnesses say Horn
began hitting Montecore in the head with the microphone. Montecore grabbed Horn
by the throat -- an instinctual act -- and dragged him off stage. Stage hands
sprayed Montecore with fire extinguishers -- and Montecore let go of Horn, who
was bleeding from a jugular vein. Ambulance employees said Horn was unconscious
and did not say, "Save the tiger," as has been reported.
It's a textbook example of spin, a term characterized in the film Wag the Dog.
Siegfried and Roy have garnered hundreds of millions of dollars in profits for
the Las Vegas Valley. Bottom line: It's about the money.
On its website, the Mirage says that Siegfried and Roy "established their own
Royal White Tiger breeding line." In fact, according to experts, the royal white
tiger is not a separate breed of tiger -- but, rather, a unique color. The white
coat is caused by a double-recessive, or mutant, gene. "What they evolved for is
killing things," said Dr. John Seidensticker, a scientist at the National Zoo in
Washington, D.C., in a recent report.
Siegfried and Roy's big cats aren't the only animals the duo keep in what People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals calls "a deprived environment." Gildah, a
55-year-old elephant, is caged and alone. "For Gildah ... isolation is the
bitter reality of daily life," says PETA in a statement. "Siegfried and Roy have
ignored PETA's pleas to greatly enrich Gildah's life by making the compassionate
decision to send her to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, where she could
forage through hundreds of acres of lush vegetation, play in the pond ... and
engage in a magnificent chorus of trumpets, barks, and soft rumbles with other
elephants."
While some say it's insensitive to ask that Montecore, Gildah and other animals
be moved to sanctuaries as Horn fights for his life, when is the proper time?
The show may have ended, but the animals remain on display for entertainment.
Cathy Scott is a local author and freelance journalist.