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| Behind the scenes with our Amur Tigers |
The day starts at 8am in the Jaguar Restaurant
where participants meet the keepers they’ll be spending the day with. It’s a
chance to have a cuppa and go through all the important health and safety
briefing that is necessary for getting behind the scenes with the big
carnivores.
Then it’s off to the keeper’s yard to prepare food
for the morning feed. Most of the cats are fed every other day to approximate
their natural feeding habits in the wild where not every hunt would be
successful making daily feeding rare. In the wild, once a kill has been made
they would eat until they are fit to burst then rest for two to three days
conserving energy for the next hunt. Lions are known for sleeping around 20 out
of 24 hours!
The morning round can take around two hours making
sure all the animals are in their enclosures, they are healthy and showing
normal behaviour. At each enclosure the keepers give the participants all the
background information on the animals from a keeper’s point of view. They learn
all about the individual animal’s personality and to how they would live in the
wild.
One thing to bear in mind when doing an experience
like this is that it’s quite common to come into contact with poo, which can be
a bit stinky! Also, dealing with large carnivores means dealing with large
amounts of raw meat and, when the feeding is done, lots of bones.
The highlight of the day is assisting with the big
cat talk for members of the public to watch in the afternoon. Participants help
the keepers put out the cats’ meat, clean their enclosure, (that’s where the
poo and bones comes into it) then stand back and enjoy the public talk by the
Presentation Team.
At the end of a long, often tiring day, you get to
take home a certificate to say you did a Big Cat Experience at Dartmoor Zoo, as
well as lots of photos and memories of getting up close and personal with our
amazing cats. Oh, and don’t forget the lovely keepers!
This is one of our most popular experiences and it
never fails to impress. You can find out more about our Big Cat Keeper for a
Day experience and see what visitors have to say about it here.
Kate Stone
Senior Keeper
Senior Keeper
Hi Hannah so sorry to hear about salmons death I would love to hear him roare I will and do miss his roar
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