Families stunned to see tiger 'chomping away' on horse head at Auckland Zoo
Friday, 14 April 2023
Warning: A graphic image sits near the bottom of this story
Families visiting Auckland Zoo over Easter were stunned to see tigers “ripping off ears and chomping away” on a horse's head.
But the zoo has defended the practice of feeding carcasses to the big cats while the public is around, saying it is one way for visitors to experience the animals’ “impressive” behaviour.
Stuff employee Thomas Kliem and his family visited the zoo just as it opened on Good Friday, and the whānau stopped to look at Sali, Ramah and Zayana – the Sumatran tigers.
“We heard someone say it’s carcass feeding time. I went down to see what the carcass was, and it’s a horse head,” he said.
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Kliem said there was a big crowd forming to watch the “bizarre” event at about 10.15am.
“A tiger stalked in and starts having a few chomps on the head. I’m holding my daughter, there's a few ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the crowd,” he said.
“It then picked up the horse head in its mouth and sprinted across the rest of the enclosure into its little cave.
“We had quite a good view. The tiger was really digging in, ripping off ears and chomping away. My partner said, ‘I think we’ve seen enough,’ and we left the tiger and the horse’s head.'
Kliem said, although his 17-month-old daughter was a bit too young too fully understand what was happening that day, she remained a big fan of tigers.
In a statement, an Auckland Zoo spokesperson said while a small number of visitors were originally surprised, most were curious about what was happening.
“On Good Friday, our volunteer team reported that a few visitors were initially thrown by what they were seeing,” the spokesperson said.
“Our volunteers were on site and spoke to one of these visitors at the time, with others listening on.
”Overwhelmingly, staff and volunteers are reporting that our visitors are very interested, curious and positive about this experience.”
SAFE Head of Investigations Will Appelbe questioned why the tigers were fed a horse head in front of families.
“While it’s normal for tigers to feed on carcases in their natural habitat, it's concerning that the zoo has created a spectacle out of this for human entertainment,” he said.
“The use of a horse's head would have been alarming for some viewers. We question where the horse's head came from, why the horse was killed, and whether it was stunned and slaughtered in line with minimum standards.”
The zoo said all carcasses came from approved suppliers, and the practice allowed visitors a richer experience.
“Enabling visitors to see animals feeding on a portion or whole carcass is an opportunity for them to experience the impressive and fascinating natural behaviours and abilities of some of the world’s most incredible wildlife species,” the zoo statement read.
“It is important to note that Auckland Zoo only uses carcasses from approved pet and human food suppliers that meet all New Zealand’s processing laws and health and safety protocols.
“Whole or portioned carcasses given to the zoo’s carnivores range from fish, chicken, mice, rats, rabbit and possum to wallaby, goat, horse, cow, and deer.”
Lauren Booth, head of the zoo’s carnivore team, said it was nutritionally beneficial for all carnivorous animals to eat a variety of meats.
“You can imagine the nutritional value of being able to give plain muscle meat isn’t as whole as being able to also give offal or tongue. It provides a wider nutrient profile,” she said.
“It also has lots of physiological benefits… large carnivores, like tigers, are designed to eat a huge amount of food and come back to a carcass over a number of days. It’s about filling that role and keeping them mentally engaged.”