At Terra Natura Benidorm today, we celebrate the fifth birthday of the three Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris), who came to this park from the Boissiere Zoo (France) in 2015. Despite the park being closed to the public due to the coronavirus crisis, our team of professionals have made a very special activity to motivate them on this day to commemorate the birth of Apollo, Ares and Zeus and raise awareness about the conservation threat suffered by this species.

To commemorate the birth of these felines, an environmental enrichment action has been prepared. Thus Apollo, Ares and Zeus have had to discover what was inside the cardboard boxes that the zookeepers had previously left in their outdoor installation strategically placed so that they could be found in different corners. When they have located them, they have not hesitated to pounce on them and extract the pieces of meat that they hid inside.

Through the environmental enrichment activity, the aim is to improve the degree of welfare of the animal, changing its routine to stimulate senses such as smell or taste. The arrival of these three tigers along with their father Rajiv, a white tiger and their mother Shana, is part of the collaboration and cooperation framework that Terra Natura Benidorm keeps with the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

It is a threatened species, where its populations are in decline. The main threat is poaching for the illegal trade of products and the pressure exerted by humans on the wild areas where this species lives. Bengal tigers are included in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

As a curiosity of the species, they communicate by roaring, grunting and hissing. Scent marks settle as a musky liquid with urine. In the case of visual cues, tigers leave spots, scrapes, and claw marks on trees and other targets.