LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – It is the final countdown for The Mirage as the doors to the iconic Las Vegas resort closes for good on Wednesday.
If you walked along the Strip, it’s hard to miss the sound of the waterfall in front of the property. When the Strip went dark during the pandemic, valley resident Krista Gifford came across the lagoon at the resort.
“I started feeding the ducks because there was not really anything to do and one day, I came upon him,” Gifford said.
Gifford noticed there was a duck with a broken wing and named him George.
“I couldn’t help but feel like helping him,” Gifford said.
George seems to get a long with his other duck friends but Gifford tells FOX5 he is not able to fend for himself. That’s why she feeds him every morning.
Even when the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix was in town, Gifford said she still found a way to get to George.
“There was a few days where access was completely cut off so I actually bought a ticket to F1 in the Mirage grand stands just to feed George,” Gifford said.
With The Mirage closing, the other ducks will likely fly away to find new homes, but George will not be able to do that with his broken wing.
“He needs a place where he can live outside and be as wild as a duck can be without being able to fly,” she said.
Gifford tells FOX5 she reached out to The Mirage who told her George will be moved to the Flamingo. She is scared that after the Mirage closes it’s doors no one will be able to go near the lagoon and that would mean she can’t feed him anymore.
“He is used to getting fed every day and then he is not going to,” Gifford said. “I think he needs to be moved now.”
Joe Lupo, the President of the Mirage confirmed that George will go to the Flamingo Hotel but did not tell us when.
Lupo emphasized that the guest and the employees are his top priority right now. When asked if the ducks will continue to be fed after the closure, he did not address that particular question.
He did tell FOX5 they will not drain the lagoon for “some time” and assured us that no animals are in danger.
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