LAS VEGAS (AP) – A bottlenose dolphin inside The Mirage casino-hotel on the Las Vegas Strip has died.
MGM Resorts International announced Wednesday that an Illinois lab was working to determine why a 12-year-old male dolphin named “Beetle” died the morning of Oct. 27 in Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat.
The dolphin joined the habitat in early 2010. MGM Resorts spokeswoman Yvette Monet says Beetle appeared ill days before his death and had been closely watched by members of the habitat’s 50-person staff which includes a full-time veterinarian. Monet says the U.S. Department of Agriculture inspected the site this week and found no compliance issues.
Monet says 10 dolphins have died since The Mirage opened in 1989, most recently the 2-year-old “Sgt. Pepper” which died in 2009 from a lung infection.
