Entertainer Wayne Newton’s exotic animals are on the auction block. The Las Vegas headliner has lost his whole estate to bankruptcy proceedings which are breaking up his collection of animals, reports ABC News on Thursday, March 14. Sloths and penguins are going cheap. Does anyone need a flock of lovebirds?
Wayne Newton’s exotic animal collection took thousands and thousands of dollars to amass, but it seems there is no market for the private zoo at the moment, either in a block or sold separately. Jasmine Bigbee, manager of the Casa De Shenandoah wildlife center once owned by Newton, reported to the bankruptcy court that the current market for exotic animals is "saturated." In other words, there are more available exotic animals than there are facilities licensed to care for them.
A recent court-approved sale will send 280 animals to an Oregon wildlife center for a mere $27,300 – less than $100 per animal. Several of the penguins were originally bought for as much as $10,500 each. Now the wildlife center, itself, markets penguins at less than a tenth of that price.
But some of the two-fingered sloths will be coming home, to the place they formerly lived – and possibly were born. Two of the sloths arriving from Las Vegas belonged originally to the Oregon facility's collection. “We are absolutely ecstatic to be getting them back,” a staff member said.
Wayne Newton, 70, was once the toast of Las Vegas, but these days the Vegas crowds are passing his show by in droves. Reviews on Ticketmaster tell the tale: “This man who has been around the world many times lost his voice somewhere, and it is nowhere to be found,” shared a patron. “There was no encore, as the crowd couldn't wait to leave.”
Another complaint said Newton’s jokes were “terrible.” It’s the end of an era.
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