Providing nutritionally appropriate diets for captive wild animals is a complex science that has advanced significantly, reducing preventable health problems while also enriching feeding behaviour.
Meeting the nutritional needs of hundreds of species in captivity requires understanding digestive physiology, nutrient requirements and natural foraging ecology that varies dramatically between taxa. Herbivores evolved to process high-fibre, low-energy forage that is difficult to replicate with convenient commercial feeds. Carnivores need appropriate bone and organ content as well as muscle meat. Frugivores require nutrient diversity across many plant species. Getting these needs wrong causes preventable disease and suffering. Getting them right, and delivering food in ways that require natural foraging effort, simultaneously improves nutrition and psychological welfare. Zoo nutrition has become a genuine science that substantially improves captive animal welfare when properly resourced.