Animal Diaries Archive

Tigers Love Their Grass!

22 June 2007

Here at Australia Zoo, all of our tigers love to chew on grass. When we are out on walks, their little noses are to the ground as they are on the hunt for the most succulent, dewy clump of green grass. Sometimes after the tigers have had their meal, the handlers will pick clumps of grass and offer it to the cats in the temple... and they absolutely love it!

There is a very justified reason as to why the tigers crave their grass. It is common knowledge that your domestic cats and dogs sometimes do the same. Occasionally if they have an upset stomach, it will help bring up any unwanted irritation. And the same goes for after a meal.

Particularly for our tigers, their diet consists of much bone and hide, sometimes feathers, along with their meat because we feed them a large variety of carcass foods. We do this as part of our enrichment program. The tigers get far more stimulated to have to work around bone, strip the hide and pluck the feathers as well as it being natural for them. From time to time there is a percentage of bone that is eaten and to assist with what doesn't want to be digested, the tigers will simply chomp on some grass and bring it up.

Sounds a little bit gross, but natural for these animals, and as we said… your cats and dogs sometimes do this as well!