Claws and Curiosity: Big Cat Enrichment

There are many forms of enrichment, including: habitat, sensory, food and non-food. Here at LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary, we focus on 

• Environmental enrichment
• Behavioural enrichment

Carefully designed enrichment provides big cats with opportunities to engage their minds and bodies in ways that encourage natural behaviours, even within a managed environment.

Big cats are intelligent, curious, and powerful animals, evolved to roam large territories, solve problems, and respond to a constantly changing environment. Without stimulation, their physical and mental well-being can suffer. Enrichment helps address this by introducing novelty, choice, and challenge into their daily lives, supporting both psychological health and physical fitness.

Enrichment also allows caretakers to observe natural behaviours such as stalking, investigating scents, manipulating objects, and exploratory movement, key indicators of positive welfare.

Environmental enrichment begins with the design of the enclosures themselves. The large, species-appropriate habitats at LIONSROCK incorporate the natural landscape, offering opportunities to:

Behavioural enrichment introduces change, challenge, and stimulation into the animals’ routines. This includes:

Boomer balls, hessian rolls, and other enrichment items are often infused with preferred spices or scents to spark curiosity and investigation. Animal caretakers also place scent trails throughout the enclosures, prompting exploration and natural tracking behaviours.

Our creative volunteers contribute by crafting paper mâché “animals,” which stimulate hunting instincts in a safe and controlled way. Sometimes, however, enrichment can be as simple as changing the location of an animal’s food, proving that innovation does not always require complexity.

Ultimately, enrichment at LIONSROCK provides big cats with the opportunity to engage mentally and physically in a healthy, stimulating, and meaningful way. By encouraging natural behaviours, curiosity, play, exploration, and problem-solving, we help ensure that every animal can express what it truly means to be a big cat, even within a sanctuary setting.