When you think Vegas you probably think of the night life and entertainment, but Las Vegas also has an incredible array of wildlife for travelers to experience. These “creatures” dwell in various aquariums and habitat across The Strip and add another facet to the already diverse offerings in the City-that-never-sleeps.

Start with an underwater “wildlife” journey at The Mirage’s aquarium. Already one of the most technically advanced in the world, the two-month transformation of the famed lobby aquarium is now complete, offering visitors a new sensory escape.

The new-and-improved version includes the addition of hundreds of new sea creatures with now nearly 1,000 marine life forms thriving in the 20,000-gallon, undersea community. Behind four-inch thick acrylic walls, for your viewing pleasure are sharks, stringrays, and porcupine fish swimming side-by-side with eels, sea bass, and puffer fish.

Managed by The Mirage's own in-house aquarists, the aquarium accommodates more than 1,000 coral reef animals representing 60 species from Australia, Hawaii, Tonga, Fiji, the Red Sea, the Marshall Islands, the Sea of Cortez and the Caribbean. These sea animals were all selected for their adaptability to the environment and compatibility with other species. One of the most elaborate and technically advanced aquariums in the world, the tank is 53 feet long, eight feet from top to bottom, and six feet from front to back.

In order to protect the environment it celebrates, The Mirage donated the exhibit’s old reef system to the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, replaced with new, brighter artificial corals to elicit the exotic beauty of tropical locales. The aquarium’s filtration and life support systems also were replaced with technology that improves visibility and monitoring. The Mirage Lobby Aquarium is located directly behind the front desk.

There’s a new addition at Segfried & Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. In June, The Mirage welcomed the arrival of a happy and healthy 25-pound baby boy dolphin named Sgt. Pepper! T Both mother, Duchess—a 30-year-old Atlantic bottlenose beauty (and one of five resident adult dolphins), and baby are doing fine.

The Mirage Dolphin Habitat is accredited by the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums. The veterinary and marine mammal staffs at The Mirage are utilizing knowledge gained through their successful dolphin breeding program, as well as from other institutions to help Duchess and her calf through these important first weeks.

Take a few moments to enjoy the “Big Cat Conservation.” Enter into Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden where you will see Royal White Tigers, Magical White Lions, panthers, and leopards. Surrounded by palm trees and lush foliage is a different world that is exotic, enchanting and full of adventure. The exquisite animals enjoy relaxing in their environment, which was modeled after their natural habitats.

The white tigers are rotated continuously in and out of the facility throughout the day. Unlike conventional tigers, which have black and gold markings, the white tiger is white with black stripes, pink paws and ice-blue eyes. The purest of these animals are snow white and have no stripe. When not appearing in the Habitat, they enjoy their own spacious living environment and can be seen in the lush tropical environment of Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat.

Whether your preference is the mammals of land or creatures of the sea, The Mirage has the “wildlife.”