How feeding methods for zoo carnivores affect behavioral welfare and how enriched feeding improves outcomes.
Feeding is one of the most powerful welfare interventions available for captive carnivores because it engages predatory motivation systems that drive much of their natural behavior. A lion or tiger provided with pre-cut meat in a bowl has no outlet for the behavioral systems that would normally occupy most of its day. Enriched feeding — carcasses, elevated presentations, scatter feeding, unpredictable timing — engages appetitive predatory behavior that fills time, reduces boredom, and produces positive welfare indicators. The welfare investment in enriched feeding programmes for carnivores is substantial in both keeper time and enrichment materials, but the behavioral welfare benefit is among the most significant available in zoo management.