Large carnivores including lions, tigers, and leopards are among the most challenging species to keep humanely in captivity; their needs for range, hunting, and social structure are rarely fully met.
Large carnivores in captivity face an inherent mismatch between their needs and what any zoo can realistically provide. Pacing, head-bobbing, and repetitive turning are stereotypic behaviours that are direct indicators of poor welfare. While enrichment can reduce stereotypies, it cannot replicate the cognitive and physical demands of wild hunting. The welfare case for keeping large carnivores in zoos is increasingly contested; conservation breeding programmes must be weighed against the welfare cost to individual animals.