Carnivores: Allocate fast days

Overall effectiveness category Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)
Number of studies: 1
Share Tweet Email

View assessment score

How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

6%
Certainty

25%
Harms

50%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

In the wild, a carnivore’s diet depends on the abundance and availability of prey. Therefore, many species do not feed every day. While it is not fully understood why captive animals perform stereotypic behaviours, it is thought they can be influenced by food restriction, causing appetitive behaviours that are deemed as repetitive and abnormal. In captivity, larger carnivore species are often fasted for one or more days per week with the aim of replicating natural feeding behaviour.

Study locations

Key messages

One replicated, before-and-after study in the UK found that large felids fed once every three days paced more frequently on non-feeding days.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A replicated, before-and-after study in 1994 of jaguars Panthera onca, leopards P. pardus and snow leopards P. uncia in a zoo in the UK [1] found that felids fed once every three days paced more on non-feeding days than on feeding days. Percentage of total scans spent pacing was higher in non-feeding days (jaguar: 11–18; leopard: 8–18; snow leopard: 8–11) than in feeding days (jaguar: 3; leopard: 4–7; snow leopard: 1–2). Eight felids (two jaguars, three leopards and three snow leopards) were observed using instantaneous scan sampling every 15 minutes during four 1-hour sessions each day (total 560 scans per enclosure). Felids were fed every third day.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Lyons J. , Young R.J. & Deag J.M. (1997) The effects of physical characteristics of the environment and feeding regime on the behavior of captive felids. Zoo Biology, 16, 71-83.

Please cite as:

Jonas, C.S., Timbrell, L.L., Young, F., Petrovan, S.O., Bowkett, A.E. & Smith, R.K. (2020) Management of Captive Animals. Pages 527-553 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Management of Captive Animals

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Carnivores: Provide food during natural active periods Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link
Carnivores: Provide food during visitor experiences Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link
Carnivores: Allocate fast days Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	1	Synopsis Link