From my 24 day/81 zoo trip in the summer of 2015: Springs Preserve: Springs Preserve is a non-AZA accredited zoo located in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the facility is difficult to categorize but it is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is part museum, part zoo, part environmental center, part everything! Navigating ones way around is tricky even with a map as there are canyon-themed pathways that cause visitors to become disoriented, plus there are several buildings that are spread out in haphazard fashion and more things have been added since it opened in 2007. The Main Entrance has a huge building that contains a fancy café on the top floor and then a gift shop and Nature Exchange on the bottom floor. There is a building called the Nevada State Museum and it is well-done although a bit boring as it has many exhibits on the history of Nevada and the focus is primarily on minerals and oil. A number of taxidermy animals make it a tad interesting for zoo enthusiasts and the highlight is an enormous Mammoth skeleton near the entrance. There is a Train Depot under construction; several hiking trails that range from a third of a mile to more than 2 miles (with many interpretative elements along the trails); a Waterworks Museum that says “coming soon” on the map; a sprawling Amphitheater; a Desert Living Center (a bit of a waste of space as it is mainly utilized for staff members but figures prominently on the map; a sustainable gallery with intriguing environmental displays and hands-on attractions; a Botanical Garden with a Butterfly House (very small and not open during the sweltering summer months); and the whole park is 180 acres. The Origen Museum is where most of the action is, as there is a gallery on Natural Mojave; a special exhibit that is currently Dinosaurs; a display of small animals inside that includes a few rarities; a Native American Village outside; and a mini-zoo adjacent to the village. The terrariums are very nicely designed in mock-canyon areas and much of the facility has great hands-on stuff for kids to figure out. I ended up spending close to two hours at this facility and it is well worth seeing and arguably the highlight of the Las Vegas area. Species List (26 total): Various Butterflies (in greenhouse), Grey Fox, Cottontail Rabbit, Botta’s Pocket Gopher, Merriam’s Kangaroo Rat, Desert Tortoise, Relict Leopard Frog, Desert Iguana, Desert Spiny Lizard, Long-Tailed Brush Lizard, Ornate Tree Lizard, Western Banded Gecko, Great Basin Collared Lizard, Desert Horned Lizard, Side-Blotched Lizard, Banded Gila Monster, Chuckwalla, Tiger Whiptail Snake, Sidewinder Rattlesnake, Desert Night Snake, Thistledown Velvet Ant, Rough Harvester Ant, Desert Tarantula, Bark Scorpion, Black Widow Spider, Desert Recluse Spider and Banded Desert Centipede.
Origen was one of the early Christian theologians. Casino is one of my favourite movies, but it has given me a mental image of Las Vegas which doesn't really match with the life and works of one of the Fathers of the Church Alan
