Large and small wild felids present some of the most challenging welfare management problems in zoos, requiring large territories, complex social management, and rich sensory environments.
Felid welfare in zoos is among the most demanding challenges in the field. Large cats are wide-ranging apex predators whose natural territories span dozens of square kilometres. Zoo enclosures, however large by human standards, are a tiny fraction of what these animals would naturally roam. Stereotypic pacing - a reliable indicator of poor welfare - is seen in felids across zoo species and is most prevalent in animals with larger natural home ranges. The welfare management toolkit for felids includes maximising usable space (including vertical space), providing complex sensory environments, offering diverse enrichment focused on olfactory and predatory stimuli, and carefully managing social conditions to prevent aggression while avoiding isolation. Highly skilled keepers with deep individual animal knowledge are essential to felid welfare success.