New feeding programme

Howletts change feeding techniques to get big cats moving more naturally

Natural behaviour in big cats is being encouraged at Howletts Wild Animal Park, Canterbury, by the use of feeding challenges.

Keepers and research officers have created a new contraption to get tigers moving as they would in the wild.

Enrichment supervisor Mark Kingston Jones, explained: “This feed pole was built in collaboration between the Carnivore Section and the Education Team as an enrichment tool to encourage stamina in the tigers and stimulate muscle development and bone strength.”

Research has shown that tigers can start to develop arthritis from a young age in captivity and this can become serious by the time they reach adolescence. However tigers that have been fed via a pole have been found to have excellent bone structure and muscle development and little symptoms of the disease.

Pole feeders have been used at various animal parks in the past however the Howletts contraption uses a pulley system so it can be lowered down to hook the meat before being raised, taking much less time than removing the animals from the site before hand.

Neil Spooner, animal director said: “The feed pole is proving very effective, although tigers infrequently climb trees in the wild, the leaping action that they perform to grab and wrestle the meat replicates the effort of pulling down prey using similar muscles. We are gradually increasing the height of the meat to build up the tiger’s stamina.”

He added: “Enrichment like this is so important for our animals, not only does it stimulate different senses for them and provide interesting challenges it also helps to keep them healthy and in tip top condition.”

The feeding pole is currently situated in the Sumatran tiger enclosure, home to Indah and Amir, a breeding pair at the park. The Sumatran tiger is the smallest of the subspecies of tiger and is listed on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species as ‘critically endangered’. Loss of habitat and vigorous poaching has depleted their numbers dramatically and it is estimated that there are less than 400 remaining in the wild.

For more information visit www.aspinallfoundation.org/howletts