Tigers in captivity face profound welfare challenges from their large home range requirements, solitary nature, and complex hunting needs that cannot be met in most facilities.
Tiger welfare in captivity depends critically on enclosure size, environmental complexity, and management that provides behavioural outlets for their predatory drive. Most facilities cannot provide adequate space for natural territorial behaviour. Stereotypic pacing is almost universal in tigers without adequate space and enrichment. Conservation-linked captive tiger programmes with large naturalistic enclosures and wild-caught prey provision come closest to meeting welfare needs.