Tiger News

Everyone loves tigers, but did you know they’re critically endangered? 

The Sumatran tigers we care for at Auckland Zoo are amazing advocates for their wild counterparts, raising awareness for the threats that tigers face in their homeland of Sumatra, Indonesia. There are thought to be roughly 400-500 Sumatran tigers surviving in the wild today, and we partner with organisations in Sumatra to help protect the species from habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict and poaching.  

At the Zoo, we ensure we’re meeting the needs of these incredible and powerful cats using the five domains of animal welfare model.  

Tigers have incredible upper body strength and strong jaws which means they can drag prey items up to 150kgs. Our zookeepers use artificial enrichment items like weighted mussel buoys to elicit natural behaviours such as the detection, capture and dragging of a prey item, and we also feed the tigers large pieces of meat on the bone.    

Auckland Zoo has a long-term conservation partnership with the Sumatran Ranger Project in Sumatra. Their team of rangers work with local communities to build predator proof livestock corrals, so that farmers have a safe place to keep their cattle at night. This reduces opportunities for tigers to prey on agricultural animals, and in turn protects the tigers from human-wildlife conflict.  

Learn more about how we care for tigers both at the Zoo and in the wild through our conservation partnerships.