Tiger Tales
by Robert Moll
Wayne Millner is cooing. "Aw, you're a sweetheart, aren't cha? Yeah." Millner is scratching a cat's neck, but the cat is no tame tabby. It's Kerinci, a 170-pound Sumatran tiger. The 13-year-old female is gently rubbing her neck against the chain-link enclosure to greet Millner, the National Zoo's head tiger keeper. Head-rubs are a common way cats in the wild greet one another. "I have a healthy respect for the cats and for what I can and can't do," he explains, moving his fingers behind her ear.
There is one significant difference between a great cat and its domestic cousin: Great cats can kill people. And although the Zoo's lions and tigers are friendly to their keepers, even seeking occasional playful interaction, that doesn't mean they won't attack them given the chance. "They're carnivores, and every instinct they have, and their body structure, is designed to hunt and eat," explains Jean Minor, a lion keeper. "People say, 'Oh, but you feed them,' and I say, 'Yeah, they associate me with food.'"
To protect themselves, and the public, from becoming meals, keepers diligently follow a comprehensive safety protocol. Keepers must know where the cats are at all times. When shifting cats between their indoor enclosures in the complex under Lion/Tiger Hill to the outdoor yards, keepers notify one another. And just like any other job, the day is wrought with routine.
A keeper's day begins with checking on the animals in his or her charge. To reach the enclosures where the great cats are held when off-exhibit, keepers must pass through a series of safety gates, each a reminder that they are about to enter a restricted and potentially dangerous area as well as an additional barrier should a cat get loose. Two signs, attached to consecutive gates read, "Please Don't Feed Fingers to Animals," and "Sometimes We Get Only One Chance." As keepers walk through the gates, they reflexively grab and pull them shut.
The animals are brought here at night, where they are housed and fed individually. In the morning, keepers look into each cat's enclosure to see if the cat has eaten and to ensure that it is healthy by, among other checks, inspecting the color and consistency of the cat's feces. Wild animals are instinctively stoic and usually try to hide any signs of illness or injury, so keepers track each animal's behavior carefully and must be able to recognize subtle cues. A clipboard where keepers mark behavior is posted on the door of each cat's enclosure. "Part of our job is to be the eyes and ears for the veterinary staff," Millner explains. Keepers look for patterns. For example, they know Kerinci is a finicky eater. They won't worry if she doesn't eat one day, but if her food is untouched for a few days, they'd consult one of the Zoo's veterinarians.
Before moving the cats into exhibits, keepers walk through the yards to clean up yesterday's feces and any debris. They access the yards through two solid steel doors that are secured by a cluster of deadbolts and two steel poles; the cats enter through a sliding door nearby. Despite the popular perception, keepers do not enter the enclosures while the cats are in them. "People think that we can hug and squeeze [the cats], but they're wild animals," Minor explains. "They're used to a routine, but that's not the same thing as being a pet."
The indoor
enclosures open into the "runway," a secure path
linking enclosures to the yard. Keepers can maneuver the cats
to any yard with a color-coordinated pulley system, another
safety device. "The whole focus of the place is to work
deliberately and safely to ensure safety for the public, for
the animals, and ourselves," Millner says. Doors leading
into the runway are blue, so the corresponding handle is blue.
Doors within the runway, which keepers use to keep cats apart
while indoors, are color-coded yellow.
Once the cats are in the exhibits, the grunt work begins.
Keepers hose and scrub the floors of the indoor enclosures
and prepare the cats' dinners by defrosting ground meat and
weighing portions. The cats are on a diet designed by the
staff at the Toronto Zoo, but the amount of meat they are
given depends on their weight and is determined by the Zoo's
veterinary staff. Rokan, the eight-year-old, 300-pound male
Sumatran tiger is served five pounds daily, whereas Soyono,
the 15-year-old, 170-pound female Sumatran is served four
pounds per day. The cats are fed only indoors and keepers
serve them through a food shoot, similar to a mailbox, so
there is no hand contact with the hungry cats. A metal feed
pan riveted with fang marks hangs near the food preparation
area as an always present safety reminder. On Sundays all
of the cats are given ox tails to gnaw. These meat and bone
treats are about two-feet long and exercise the cats' powerful
teeth and jaws.
Tigers and lions in the yard exhibit typical wild behavior, sleeping most of the day to conserve their energy. They also patrol and scent mark the perimeter of the yard, just as they would patrol the perimeter of their territory in the wild. Black arrows painted on the concrete walls in the white Bengal tiger's yard point to signs of scent marking.
To encourage more activity, keepers occasionally place "boomer balls" in the yards. These brown balls weigh about 30 pounds, and swatting them around keeps the cats entertained throughout the day. When temperatures rise, the tigers, but not the lions, will also swim in the moat to cool off.
"Visitors come with their cameras hoping to see something. Well, [being] here all the time, [keepers] see all kinds of interesting behaviors. There's a lot of times I wish I had a camera to document some," Millner says. As Soyono comes into heat this spring, Millner and the other keepers are anxiously watching the female, and Rokan, her intended mate. All hope that Millner won't need a photograph to reveal what develops.
A keeper's
day ends much the way it begins, only in reverse. The cats
are brought inside, checked, and fed. Although the process
may seem a bit monotonous, keepers enjoy working with the
great cats at the Zoo. "One-half of the people in the
world fantasize at some point in their lives about being a
zookeeper; the other half wonders why anyone would want to
work with smelly animals," Millner says. "I'm one
of the ones who always thought it would be the neatest thing
in the world."
(ZooGoer 27(2) 1998. Copyright 1998 Friends
of the National Zoo. All rights reserved.)
Tiger Facts
It Takes A Village (tiger conservation in Nepal)
Great Cats (National Zoo Exhibit)
