Tiger (Panthera tigris) Fact Sheet: Managed Care

Early history of tigers in managed care

• c. 300 BC - tiger presented by King Seleucus of Syria to people of Athens (Thapar 2004)
  • Long history of tigers kept in palaces of rulers and displayed in traveling animal shows (Müller 2001)
• 1677 - tigers displayed at Leipzig Fair, Germany (Müller 2001)

20th century records

• Early 1900s - first open enclosure for large cats at Tierpark Carl Hagenbeck in Hamburg, Germany (Müller 2001)
• Late 1900s - a few zoos began to display males with females, and females with cubs

Enclosure design

• Modern enclosures emphasize a natural habitat: soil, vegetation, water features (Müller 2001)
• Social groupings require adequate enclosure size and design (Müller 2001)
  • Allow male and female to keep out of each other's way
  • Success depends on behavior of the individuals
  • Male should never be left in enclosure with female during or just after birth or with young cubs

Environmental enrichment

• Stereotypic pacing often seen; reduced by enrichment opportunities (Szokalski 2012)
• Enrichment devices and techniques (Szokalski 2012)
  • Novel food items
  • Altered feeding routines and food displays
  • Novel toys/objects
  • Olfactory stimulation - novel scents
  • Increases in enclosure size, enclosure rotations
  • Social enrichment - tiger groups, human-tiger interactions
  • Visual barriers
    • Blocking view of tigers in neighboring exhibits can significantly reduce pacing

Subspecies identification

• Knowledge of wild origins often lost after generations of breeding under managed care (Müller 2001)
• DNA testing enables identification of subspecies and hybrids (Müller 2001)
• Subspecies under care, as of 2000 (from Müller 2001)
  • Amur (Siberian) tigers: 600 individuals
  • Sumatran tigers: 300 individuals
  • Bengal tigers: 300 individuals
  • South China tigers: 60 individuals
  • Indochinese tigers: 50

Major breeding centers, as of 2000 (Müller 2001)

• Amur Tiger
  • Zoologischer Garten (Leipzig, Germany)
  • Rotterdam Zoo (the Netherlands)
  • Berlin Zoo (Germany)
  • Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Park (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
• Bengal Tiger
  • Nandankanan Zoological Park (Bhubaneswar, India)
  • National Zoological Park (New Delhi, India)
  • Zoological Garden (Calcutta, India)
• South China Tiger
  • Shanghai Zoological Gardens (China)
  • Canton Zoo (China)
  • Suchou Zoo (China)
• Indochinese Tiger
  • Zoo Melaka (Ayer Keroh, Malaysia)
  • Singapore Zoo (Republic of Singapore)
  • Taiping Zoo (Bukit Larut, Malayasia)

Breeding methods

• Tigers reproduce well by natural means in zoos and breeding facilities (Brown 2011)
• Assisted reproductive techniques have had limited success (Brown 2011) but are expected to play larger role in future to achieve species survival goals (Tilson et al. 1994)
  • Embryo transfer
  • In vitro fertilization
  • Artificial insemination
  • Gamete and embryo cryopreservation (frozen sperm, eggs or embryos)
• Firsts in assisted reproduction
  • 1990: first live tiger births by in-vitro fertilization/embryo transfer, Omaha Zoo in collaboration with National Zoo and Minnesota Zoo (Tilson et al. 1994)
  • 1991: first live tiger birth from artificial insemination, Omaha Zoo (Tilson et al. 1994)

The issue of generic tigers

• Term "generic" used for subspecies hybrids and/or tigers of unknown pedigree (Goff et al. 2012)
• Hybrids from lion/tiger matings have occurred under managed care (Müller 2001)
  • Liger - offspring of male lion x female tiger
  • Tigon or tiglon - offspring of male tiger x female lion
  • Do not occur in wild due to widely separated ranges; not deliberately bred in modern zoos
• White tigers in AZA institutions are managed under Generic Tiger SSP (Goff et al. 2012)
  • Under breeding moratorium to increase institutional capacity to breed/manage tigers of known pedigree and subspecies (Goff et al. 2012)

Safari Park's Tull Family Tiger Trail

• Official website
• Exhibit features
  • Home to six Critically Endangered Sumatran tigers
  • 5.2-acre habitat
  • Tigers provided with rocks for climbing, water for swimming, and shade for resting
  • Home to other endangered species, such as orangutans, rhinos, and elephants
  • Authentic replica of a Sambutan Longhouse (for events and observing tigers)
    • In Indonesia, the longhouse is a community gathering place or a home for several families within a village
• Tiger cam
• History
  • Opened May 2014
  • Winner of AZA award for volunteer engagement and involvement in tiger conservation
  • 2016: new cubs welcomed to Tiger Trail

Conservation efforts

• San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is a major contributor and supporter of the International Rhino Foundation, whose mission is to protect Sumatran rhinos, tigers, and other large mammals across Indonesia
  • Involvement with Sumatran tigers

Novel objects stimulate Malayan tigers at San Diego Zoo

Image credit: © San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.

The San Diego Zoo Safari Park's "Tiger Trail" exhibit opened in 2014.

© San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.

Brown (2011)
Goff et al. (2012)
Müller (2001)
Szokalski (2012)
Thapar (2004)
Tilson et al. (1994)