Hello,

I had the opportunity to visit the Big Cat Sanctuary on the gulf coast
of FL. I asked them what they fed their lions, tigers, and ligers.
However, it was quite obvious because you could see the lion eating his
lunch right in front of us. All their big cats are fed raw meat. Whole
parts as much as possible.

They have over 20+ big cats in their care. That is much higher than
the average zoo. They specialize in taking care of big cats and their
needs. None of their big cats have ever gotten sick from their diet.
And that meat smelled horrible. It had been sitting in the hot FL sun
probably for hours in the middle of summer. Perfect opportunity for
all sorts of bacteria growth. This happened on a daily basis, and they
never get sick.

The reasons for safety were the same that I've stated for ferrets -
stomach acidity, length of digestive tract, etc. They can handle the
high bacterial load - they are truly designed for it.

So yes, some places may feed commercial prepared diets for their big
cats, but others (especially those that are more experienced with big
cats) feed raw meat.

Jaclynn
Chemistry/Biology

[Posted in FML 7197]