And a second unusual year draws to a close. Though the world did manage to open up to some extent, like 2020, this year has been far from normal. Some countries, such as the UK, opened up almost completely whereas others, like Thailand, did not. As Thailand relies heavily on tourism as a source of income, the welfare of all captive animals with the country still suffer to varying degrees. Both this year, and last, we have been studying the effect of Covid on captive tiger we

After our first visit to see the Tiger Temple tigers in 2021 we started providing chicken for them. Due to budget cuts, the facilities were, and still are, struggling to provide enough food for all their animals, particularly the tigers. With that in mind, we began donating full chickens to both facilities once a week. The first Chicken Run was on October 21st and they have been continuing weekly since then and will go on until the first week of January. With this extra boost

After a two year absence due to Covid restrictions in Thailand, today we were finally able to revisit the Tiger Temple tigers in both of the Department of National Park (DNP) facilities. As a quick recap, back in November 2019, you helped us to fund ponds for one facility and also fund ponds and donate grass and trees to create a more natural environment in the enclosures for the other facility. However, before everything had been finished, the pandemic struck. This caused th

On 21st June this year, a male tiger (dubbed by the rangers, ‘Tauke’ meaning big head), was captured in Chitwan National Park, Nepal. This unfortunate occurence was due to human-tiger conflict where Tauke killed a woman. The event is thought to have occured due to injuries sustained from a possible territorial fight with another tiger. It is speculated that upon losing the fight, the injured tiger made his way to the outskirts of a village where he was spotted a number of tim

Join For Tigers for our Virtual Worldwide Walk For Tigers to help us collectively travel 1000km and raise £1000 from 22nd July to 5th August. International Tiger Day on Thursday 29th July sits in the mid-week. By joining in, you will help us to improve the living conditions of the tigers relocated from the Tiger Temple. Play your part in improving the livelihoods and welfare conditions of the surviving tigers. In previous years, our Walk for Tigers was done as an in-person ev

This week it is the five year anniversary of the closure of Tiger Temple, Thailand. Back in June 2016, the Temple was raided and the 146 tigers were relocated to government facilities. At the time, it seemed that this was going to mark a change for tiger welfare in the country. But this was not to be. Today, there are just as many, if not more, facilities breeding tigers and offering interactions with tourists. Even with the impact Covid-19 has had on the tourism industry, th

Covid-19 has been sweeping the globe for the last year, with humans and animals alike feeling the effects of the pandemic. Zoo animals in Thailand have been hit hard, with long zoo closures and subsequent reduced income from a lack of tourists. Animal welfare, which was often already poor, has only worsened. Added to this, there has been no external or governmental support for these facilities to help them through the pandemic. With the third wave underway in Thailand, Thai z

Nutrition enrichment can cover a number of different enrichment types with some of the options already listed under tactile enrichment such as boomer balls or cardboard boxes, as well as also falling under cognitive enrichment with the use of scatter feeding or hiding food encouraging the tiger to figure out how to get the food. Food is commonly used as animals need it to survive and will interact with the enrichment. Essentially, the idea is to prolong the feeding times, whi

Sensory enrichment - Taste The sense of taste is very important to animals. Tigers are stimulated by offering different tasting food items in addition to the main diet, which should be incorporated into the regular diet. Special food items can be given as extra treats, which is particularly effective when placed inside a new enrichment item that keepers want the tiger to engage with. Popular extra treats that we’ve seen positive results include fish, cheese (but only very sma

Sensory enrichment - visual When it comes to visual enrichment, similar to auditory, it can be both positive and negative. The key here is to provide the correct type of visual enrichment that stimulates positive behaviours rather than more negative ones. In this quick post we will take a look at some of the visual enrichment options and what to consider when creating visual captive tiger enrichment. Tigers are visual, so it’s important to create visually interesting objects

Sensory enrichment - auditory Before we begin, it’s important to point out that, while auditory enrichment can be a positive thing, it can also be negative. Throughout this short post we will take a look at how this can happen and what to consider when creating auditory enrichment for captive tigers. A tiger’s sense of hearing is acute. This sharp sense helps the animal to hunt prey and survive in the wild. However, in captivity, considerations regarding the tiger’s environme

Sensory enrichment - tactile In order to create a tactile environment, there are a number of other enrichment devices (on top of those perfect for keeping tiger claws in good condition) that can be used to stimulate interaction and touch. These should be made up of materials that are not harmful to the tiger. The object also needs to perform a function of some kind enabling the tiger to manipulate it. Bags, burlap, boxes and brushes Similar to house cats, big cats like tigers

Sensory enrichment - tactile Similar to house cats, tigers need to scratch to maintain their claws. Though tigers have sheaths (the skin and fur around the toes) for their claws, it’s important that they are able to clean and sharpen them on a regular basis. Tiger claws retract into these sheaths preventing daily wear on the ground when walking, keeping the claws sharp for hunting The provision of scratching material also helps to prevent ingrowing claws (ADD PHOTO) which can

Sensory enrichment - olfactory Tigers have a good sense of smell, which is often used to determine who has been present in their territory. Tigers can be seen sniffing trees or bushes to see which tiger, or other animal, has sprayed or scent marked there recently. By providing scent enrichment in various ways, captive tigers can be encouraged to perform this behaviour of exploring and territorial scent marking, even if there are no other tigers or animals in or near their enc

Enclosure size Wild tigers are known for travelling vast distances in search of territory, mates, water and prey [1]. The distances travelled by tigers does depend on the region that they live in, with Amur tigers, who live in colder regions (such as Siberia), usually travelling greater distances than tigers in other parts of the world. Thus, with this natural history, one of the biggest welfare issues for captive tigers is insufficient space from too small enclosures. It is

Tigers in captivity need to have access to a range of different substrates within the enclosure in order to provide as natural an environment as possible and to facilitate more natural behaviours. The type of substrate should be varied across all living spaces [1]. Concrete floors are commonly found in many tiger facilities around the world where it is usually found in at least night rooms or lockdown areas. This is because these smaller spaces are easier to keep clean throug

Tigers, like other cats, want to be able to hide when they feel uncomfortable or when they simply need space from each other [1]. In a zoo setting it is important for this need to be met as it gives the tiger more choice over their environment. This choice also includes a tiger having the ability to to hide from zoo visitors in hiding places that may simply be blind spots, or areas in which the public can not see the tiger from a particular angle. By providing this option thr

Tigers may not be known for climbing trees or sitting up in branches like leopards, but that doesn’t mean they don’t like being high up. Providing platforms for big cats is a must as they enjoy being able scan their surrounding area, giving them a view of prey or danger, thus providing them the chance to move away [1]. Platforms, or elevated areas also provide perfect spots for sunbathing if located in the correct part of the enclosure. Tigers can spend hours simply sprawled

Tigers may be from the cat family, but they’re one of the few cats (both big and small) that actually like the water – other water-loving felids include the jaguar, fishing cat and the Turkish Van. In the wild, tigers can often be found near water sources such as pools or streams, often sitting in them as well as drinking from them, as shown in this footage from Thailand. So how do they use bodies of water and why is it so important to include a pond in a captive tiger enviro

Enrichment, also referred to as environmental or behavioural enrichment, is the provision of external stimuli with the aim to produce natural and stimulating behaviours in captive animals as they would be performed in the wild. Increasing the complexity of a captive animal’s living space is an integral part of caring for captive animals as it also provides experiences that, in turn, enable the animal to adapt to a changing environment and help them to be active and alert, muc