February 2012
11 February 2012
At Australia Zoo we have ten tigers who call the tiger temple home and given that tigers prefer a solitary lifestyle, you can easily imagine that each tiger wants to stake his or her claim over a particular enclosure!
Their solitary nature in the wild means they have to protect their home or habitat by continually leaving fresh evidence that the area is taken. They do this by patrolling the perimeter and leaving scent markings, visual scratch marks and of course faecal matter in obvious places. Tigers have scent glands all over their body which, when they roll around in long grass or rub themselves against their surroundings, their scent is left behind. The same thing happens when a tiger spray marks using urine, it becomes a message to other tigers passing by that this area is occupied and to steer clear!
Tigers in captivity share the same natural instinct as their wild cousins and here at Australia Zoo, our tiger facility is set up in such a way that our tigers can explore several different yards on any given day. This is great natural stimulation as each enclosure is designed differently, but also encourages natural territorial behaviour and we often find our tigers will spend the first few moments in a new exhibit smelling areas where other tigers have scent marked and then covering it up with their own!
As powerful and majestic as tigers are, there's nothing quite like seeing a 130kg cat bear hugging a tree and rubbing his head all over it as though he's in love! They may be the king of the jungle but just like their distant relatives the house cat, they are full of personality and it doesn't take much for them to make you smile!
With as little as 4000 tigers remaining, it is more important than ever that we see the beauty in our stripy friends and create awareness for their decline. Humans are ultimately the biggest threat tigers face in the wild but this means we can be their saviour. One person can make a difference; all it takes is the right choice!
To get involved or learn more please visit: www.australiazoo.com.au/conservation/projects/tigers/
5 Zoo Comments
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Joel Moar 15th April 2012 16:42:05 AEST
What a majestic animal, would love to work with these animals in future and help save them. Tigers Rule!
Brittany 8th April 2012 13:36:02 AEST
its so sad how endangered tigers are :( they're very cool animals
Kathleen 15th February 2012 22:38:37 AEST
Tigers are my favorite animals! After visiting the Australia Zoo I fell in love with all of the animals and the place. Steve Irwin has made Australia proud to have such a wonderful place! Terri, Robert and of course the ever popular Bindi Irwin are continuing Steve's legacy! Keep up the good work team! Crikey, Australia Zoo is the best in the world!
Gail from London 14th February 2012 05:05:08 AEST
Ten very, very lucky tigers living at Australia Zoo. It isn't everyone's first choice of course (we'd all ideally like to see them free and wild in the wild), but if they have to live anywhere else then Australia Zoo is the place. I fear for this animal more than any other species. Only 4000 remaining; how very, very sad.
Sally Bulman 13th February 2012 17:34:41 AEST
Please tell me what qualifications I need to be able to care for Tigers? this is my dream job and would love to be able to fulfill my dreams!