Woburn’s Big Cats & Tiger Cubs Enjoy Purr-fect Day of Enrichment with Giant Toys, Wool & Cardboard Boxes

Hi everyone,

Today we have a fun post from our friends at the Woburn Safari Park.

Woburn’s Big Cats & Tiger Cubs Enjoy Purr-fect Day of Enrichment with Giant Toys, Wool & Cardboard Boxes 

Woburn Safari Park’s critically endangered Amur tiger cubs and African lions are having a ball today playing with giant cat toyswool and cardboard boxes that are not too dissimilar to those enjoyed by domestic house cats.

woburnWoburn’s tiger cubs play with a ball of rope.

woburn 2One of the cubs grabs a mouse-shaped toy (right)

In the run up to International Cat Day on Monday 8th August the keepers were treating the big cats at the Bedfordshire Park to a purr-fect day of enrichment. Keepers had great fun creating some special fish and mouse-shaped cat toys, made from natural hessian sacks stuffed with Bactrian camel wool and conifer leaves to create tantalising scents, a little like catnip. Keepers also made a large rope ball and offered the cats a giant cardboard box to hide in.
 woburn 3

The rare tiger cubs rip into their toys with relish, pulling out the wool shed by Woburn’s Bactrian camels.

woburn 4

The Park’s tiger cubs, Mishka and Milashki, have also been showing off their hunting skills and competing with a game of tug-o-war, enjoying a cooling dip in the Park’s water pools and spending some quality time with mum as they brush up on their stalking and pouncing skills. As the first Amur tigers to be born at the Park in 23 years, these female cubs are now juveniles and at 10 months old weigh around 70-80kgs each.

woburn 5Shall we dance? The tiger cubs jump for joy

Tara Humphrey, Animal Keeper at Woburn Safari Park said:
“We are always thinking of new ways to provide our big cats with the enrichment that they need, which is why with International Cat Day coming up on Monday we decided that it would be nice to introduce the tigers and lions to some of the toys similar to those enjoyed by domestic house cats.  Stalking and playing with the props really helps to stimulate their natural hunting instincts and the giant cardboard box we found was ideal for hiding in and tearing apart!”

woburn 6Having a roar-some time! Woburn’s tiger cubs take some time out to play

woburn 7Unlike most house cats Woburn’s tigers love the water

Woburn Safari Park is home to a pride of 7 African lions and 5 Amur tigers that live in spacious reserves in the Kingdom of the Carnivores section of the Road Safari.

woburn 8Is that catnip? An African lion enjoys a bag of conifer leaves

Amur tigers (also referred to as Siberian tigers) are critically endangered and numbers are as low as 520 in the wild.  Major decreases in tiger populations over recent years are due to poaching for body parts and loss of habitat, making the international captive breeding programme vital to protecting their future.
 woburn 9Curious big cats! Woburn’s lions approach a cardboard box 

woburn 10All cats like to hide, but this cardboard box proved too tempting for Woburn’s lions to shred

woburn 11Time to chill! Sunbathing is a top priority for the pride

Picture Credits: Bridget Davey Photography / Woburn Safari Park

To book or for more information, visit www.woburnsafari.co.uk

We hope you enjoyed the look at the Safari Park and will be back for more stories soon! 🙂

Thanks,

Marc

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36 thoughts on “Woburn’s Big Cats & Tiger Cubs Enjoy Purr-fect Day of Enrichment with Giant Toys, Wool & Cardboard Boxes

  1. Pingback: Woburn’s Big Cats & Tiger Cubs Enjoy Purr-fect Day of Enrichment with Giant Toys, Wool & Cardboard Boxes | lilykatzblog

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