How to Keep Captive Tigers Wild: Enrichment and Welfare

Novel Food Items and Scents as Enrichment

In the  Montgomery Zoo  (Alabama), three tigers were observed after being provided with bones, frozen fish, and spices, including cinnamon, cumin, and chili powder. These tigers increased their activity around 25% when presented with bones, 58% with frozen fish, and 22% with spices (Skibiel et al. 2007). Among all the big cat species studied, tigers were the most responsive to these treatments.

Meet Calvin

Calvin currently lives at the  Wildcat Ridge Sanctuary  in Scotts Mills, Oregon. Calvin and his brother Hobbes were born at Joe Exotics enclosures in 2013. They were taken from their mother and used for photos for the first 12 weeks of their lives. Once they grew too big to be photo cubs, they were sold to a roadside zoo called Serenity Springs Wildlife Center. There, they lived in small stone pens, with a cement bunker as a shelter. The USDA continually wrote up Serenity Springs for neglect and improper care, and in October of 2016, Serenity Springs sold all their animals to Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. Turpentine Creek and Tigers in America worked together to find homes for all the animals in accredited sanctuaries across the United States. 

Calvin arrived with Hobbes at Wildcat Ridge Sanctuary in November of 2016. Calvin is an outgoing tiger who loves to play with his enrichment toys and enjoys his new environment. As a result of a poor diet as a cub leading to Metabolic Disease, Calvin has a limp. However, he is on special supplements to help improve his condition and is doing much better!

Artificial Prey as Enrichment

The tiger enclosure at  Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoos and Garden  in Hilo, HI used mobile artificial prey and speakers to mimic squirrels, rabbits, and birds to encourage the tigers to hunt, chase, and climb (Markowitz and LaForse 1986). This research provides anecdotal support of these techniques to encourage desired behaviors and decrease pacing.

Stimulus Objects as Enrichment

To promote hunting, four tigers in  Washington D.C.'s Smithsonian National Zoological Park  were provided with stimulus toys such as empty metal kegs and frozen blood balls. Additionally, tigers were given zebra dung and scented squash as a form of scent stimulation. These methods successfully encouraged more active behavior, such as climbing, grooming, marking, rubbing, and vocalizing. Furthermore, tigers spent less time asleep during sessions when enrichment objects were present (Van Metter et al. 2008).

Meet Marcus, Winona and Dash

Marcus, Winona and Dash are three tigers that currently reside at the  Wildcat Sanctuary  in Sandstone Minnesota. Before their transport to the sanctuary, these three tigers lived in a small cement and mud enclosure in an out of state facility. Cubs were commonly bred at this facility and were used for cub petting or sold on the internet. Luckily, the Wildcat Sanctuary was able to step in to help. 

When the Wildcat Sanctuary arrived, they found that Winona had just given birth to another cub, Dash, who was so young he was still attached to the umbilical cord. In the wild, tigers have a litter approximately every two years. But in captivity, when breeders pull the cubs from their mother, their mother goes back into estrus, which means she can be bred several times a year. Winona and her mate Marcus were kept together, but Marcus had displayed some tendencies to attack cubs, therefore the sanctuary had to quickly sedate the cats and transport them one-by-one back down the road. Due to the piles of scrap metal, broken cars, and trash lining the road, the transport crates couldn’t be driven, so the tigers were sedated and taken in cars back down the road.

Once the three tigers were transported back to the Wildcat Sanctuary, Marcus was treated for broken canines with exposed roots, a bacterial infection, several wounds, and was neutered. Winona receives birth control so she can live safely with Marcus. Dash received around the clock care and was fed every few hours. He was the first newborn the sanctuary had cared for, but they embraced the commitment. 

The habitats at Wildcat Sanctuary are especially created to fit the individual tigers that arrive and are expanded and supplemented if the tigers need more space or new enrichment activities. Winona and Marcus live happily together now, and Dash is hitting milestones daily. Soon Dash will be moved to a larger habitat for big cats. Eventually he will be introduced to other tigers of his own age so he can grow up with other tigers around him and learn how to socialize. 

Exhibit Rotation as Enrichment

A Sumatran tiger living in  Louisville Zoological Garden  was rotated throughout several enclosures as a form of scent stimulation and to mimic scenery changes the tiger would experience in the wild. The rotated Sumatran tiger was found to rest significantly less and display naturally expected behaviors such as grooming and spraying significantly more over the course of the study (White et al. 2003).

Meet Kaiya

Kaiya currently lives at  In-Sync Exotics , an exotic wildlife sanctuary in Wylie, Texas. Kaiya was born in November of 2002. She was purchased from an unknown breeding facility by an entertainment facility in Texas. From there, she was taken all over the country and used in exhibits. As she got bigger and more aggressive, the facility decided that she was no longer useful to them. That is when In-Sync stepped in and offered to take her.

Kaiya was rescued by In-Sync in April of 2004. She is blind in her left eye due to an unknown event from her youth, but that hasn't stopped her from embracing her time at In-Sync. She is very active and loves to play with her enrichment toys. Her favorite place to be is in the water, and she takes almost every toy, chicken treat or bone into the water with her. She is thriving at In-Sync, and is deeply appreciated for her energetic, never-tiring attitude.