Dartmoor Zoo tiger given repurposed olive barrels to play with

A tiger at Dartmoor Zoo has had some new giant barrels added to its enclosure.

Dragan the Amur Tiger will be able to play with the olive barrels as a way of keeping active and being challenged.

The idea came together as a result of the zoo’s partnership with Devon Contract Waste (DCW) who look to repurpose and reuse unwanted items before recycling.

General manager for DCW Grant Scott said “this is a wonderful outcome”.

Amur Tigers can weigh up to 180kg, and like to play and chase in similar ways to domestic cats.

The zoo said: “Where a domestic cat will be happy chasing a ball of string or toy mouse, Dragan’s toys need to be a bit tougher.”

The keepers can hide food and highly scented materials in the barrels for Dragan to find.

There are fewer than 500 Amur Tigers left in the wild, with the IUCN Red List considering the species endangered.

Dartmoor Zoo’s maintenance manager Stuart Franklin said: “When you work closely with endangered species, you become keenly aware of how negatively man’s economic activities can impact on every ecosystem.

“It is hugely important to get multiple uses out of every resource, and this plays a fundamental role in our green initiatives on site.

“This was the driving factor behind implementing our partnership with DCW and the Dartmoor Zoo team are very excited about what the recycling future holds!”

Head of business development of Olives Et Al, who provided the barrels, Lewis Slayden said: “I think it’s the first time we’ve seen our barrels repurposed like this – makes a change from water butts and the team here are happy to know some of our old barrels are going to a really good use.”