The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 353

Take a walk on the wild side at the Tropicana Wildlife Walk stretches the 300 feet of the walkway connecting the Tropicana's two towers. It is home to several exotic birds, mswell as reptiles and such mammals as the pygmy marmoset, the smallest primate in the world. BY BOBBIE KATZ could be said that Wildlife Walk at the Tropicana is for the birds-macaws and parrots in particular. The birds sit high atop individual perches, greeting all visitors who brave a 300-foot-long walkway connecting the hotel's two towers. But while the exhibit's exotic birds, including cockatoos and flamingos, koi fish from Hawaii and three species of swans.

"A certain number of the animals here are endangered," says horticulture manager Don Davis, who oversees the Wildlife Walk. "What we hope to do is use these animals for the educational experience of the public so that people might be a little more sensitive to our environment worldwide. We choose the animals here based on their availability, their uniqueness and their people-friendliness." To operate the park, the Tropicana has special licenses and permits from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Nevada Department of Wildlife, and it must comply with USDA requirements on the size of the enclosures, the animals' diets and the cleanliness of the surroundings. The Walk is inspected annually and receives surprise inspections as well.

Eight staff members watch over the animals, and nearly all have a two-Please see WALK, Page 77 toucans, make up the bulk of the 4-year-old Wildlife Walk exhibit, it is also home to tropical fish; mammals and some scaly new residents: snakes and monitor lizards. Also new are red-eyed frogs, matta matta turtles, mud skipper lizards and various chameleons that are housed in habitats called vivariums, a cross between an aquarium and a terrarium. Through large picture windows, visitors inside the hotel can view the five-acre pool and a garden area below that contain African cranes, I- is; Kliitol nit it "f'i I 1 wmmm -TV. jn1 lis mm TFT lit Discover the energy of the Big Apple on the las Vegas Strip. It's like nothing you've ever seen, and more than you'd ever expect A towering Manhattan skyline, the neighborhood charm of Little Italy, and the excitement of our Central Park Casino create an experience that can only be found at The Greatest City In las Vegas, for room reservations call l-ES3-KY-fC2-HCl-800-6Sl-6i53) or your local travel agent today.

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