Big cats dig classical music at zoo near Nailsea

Tigers and lions at a zoo in North Somerset have shown a remarkable preference for classical music played to them, noticeably relaxing while enjoying the calming effects of works by the famous composers.

Keepers at Noah's Ark zoo farm at Wraxall have been experimenting with audio enrichment to benefit the daily lives of big cats, rhinos and giraffes by playing different radio stations and monitoring the effects on behaviour.

Classic FM has become a favourite of the tigers and lions, with the big felines often seen rolling playfully on the floor and snoozing when their keepers play the station inside their house.

In contrast, Rumbull and Rumba the white rhinos appear to prefer the more up-beat tempo of Kiss and Heart FM, often standing listening with their heads through their fence to get closer to the radio.

Big cat keeper Emma Godsell has been monitoring her animals' response to music.

She said: "We've been experimenting with playing background music inside the Big Cat Sanctuary as there's some evidence to show that classical music has a calming effect on tigers and lions.

"Classic FM seems to have gone down well with Tiana and Khan our tigers, and the lion brothers Zulu and Masai: I often see them chilling out on their beds or dozing on the floor when it's playing."

Audio enrichment is just one of the forms of variety keepers working with the larger exotic animals build into their daily routines to promote physical and mental wellbeing and stimulation.

Crucial to the health of captive animals, enrichment at the zoo also includes finding novel ways to present food, puzzles and changes to the layout of enclosures or indoor pens to encourage animals to stay alert and active.

Rhino and giraffe keeper Emma Green uses a detailed daily enrichment plan with each of her species.

She said: "Enrichment is really important for zoo animals to keep them engaged with their environment. 

"I use a weekly enrichment plan for our big African animals including novel feeding techniques with hanging feeders, food puzzles and audio stimulus from the radio.

"While classical music is definitely calming for most animals, Kiss and Heart FM seems to be preferred by our rhinos as they often come closer to our keeper area to listen in."

Noah's Ark Zoo Farm is currently building a new 20 acre habitat for elephants to open this summer. 

Elephant Eden will become the UKs largest elephant facility by some margin.

Keepers will use a range of enrichment techniques to encourage Indian elephants to actively search for food and interact as a herd, promoting healthy living for endangered elephants.

For information about the animals at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm and the progress of Elephant Eden click HERE or phone 01275 852606.

There are now more than 100 sorts of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates at Noah's Ark, including several important species classified as 'endangered' to 'vulnerable' on the IUCN Red List.

The zoo farm which attracts more than 135,000 visitors each year was started in 1999 by farmer Anthony Bush and his artist wife Christina.

It is home to lions, giraffe, zebras, rhinos, tigers, gibbons and camels and boasts the longest hedge maze in the world.

Visitors can also enjoy huge indoor and outdoor adventure playgrounds.