Effect of whole prey inclusion on feeding behavior and welfare of Colombian big cats, jaguars (Panthera onca) and pumas (Puma concolor), under professional care at the Cali Zoological Foundation, Colombia

Citation

Gómez SM, Camilo Vargas J, and Cubides L. 2025. Effect of whole prey inclusion on feeding behavior and welfare of Colombian big cats, jaguars (Panthera onca) and pumas (Puma concolor), under professional care at the Cali Zoological Foundation, Colombia. In Treiber K, Brooks M, D’amato-Anderson J, Nylander J, Eds. Proceedings of the Sixteenth Conference on Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition, AZA Nutrition Advisory Group, Oklahoma City, OK.

Abstract

Nutrition plays a key role in animal welfare conditions for wildlife species under professional care. Implementing new feeding models designed to meet nutritional requirements and stimulate innate behaviors is essential to fulfilling animal welfare standards in zoos. The objective of this study was to implement a new nutritional management model with the addition of three types of whole prey (chicken, rabbit, duck) and carcass (skin-and-bone pieces of goat and horse) for Pumas (Puma concolor) and Jaguars (Panthera onca). The diet was designed using ZOOTRITION software, based on the prey items offered, and covering the nutrition requirements for adult individuals.

In coordination with the area Animal Care and Management team, a behavioral evaluation was conducted prior to the dietary change and during the implementation of the inclusion of carcass and whole prey items, using the application ZOOMONITOR. Periodic evaluations of Body Condition Score (AZA Jaguar Species Survival Plan, 2016; Jansen & Jenks, 2011) and body weight were also carried out. The results showed that carcass and whole prey inclusion resulted in a sixfold increase in feeding time, stimulation of behaviors such as claw use, tearing, licking, and crushing—behaviors previously not observed—and maintenance of both body weight and targeted body condition.

It can be interpreted that these management practices improve animal behavior and may favor digestion by increasing feeding duration, while at the same time maintaining optimal nutritional balance and ideal body condition. It is also possible that such nutritional balance was achieved without the provision of whole prey or carcasses, and in both treatments, this was evaluated and supported through nutritional analysis using ZOOTRITION.

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