Here at Turpentine Creek, our animals eat A LOT. We run through about 600 pounds of meat a day here! The animals are mostly fed a diet of raw chicken and beef, but every now and then, they’ll get different meat varieties, such as pork, fish, turkey, venison, or rabbit. Our bears, being omnivores, will also get a variety of produce and “fun” food, like overnight oats, unseasoned popcorn, or peanut butter, in addition to their protein. But if these animals were out in the wild, would they be eating the exact same? What would be their favorite food if they were in their natural habitats?
Tigers
Out in the wild, a tiger’s preferred food is usually going to be large ungulates like deer, wild boars or antelope, but they are also opportunistic hunters, and are known to go after other prey like birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, or even monkeys.
Servals
African Servals have a variety of prey they’ll eat. Rodents, birds, snakes, frogs, shrews, moles, hares, insects, etc. are part of a serval’s normal diet. Every now and then, they’ll snack on grass, which a lot of our animals at Turpentine do here in captivity as well.
Bobcats
The normal diet of bobcats usually includes a lot of rabbits or hares, but if those are scarce, they’ll shift to finding other food sources. Small rodents or other small to medium sized mammals are good options for them. Bobcats have also been known to go for deer, particularly small or young deer, if need be.
Lions
Lions primarily eat mammals like zebras, wildebeests, or buffalo in the wild. Although, they are also opportunistic hunters, so they will sometimes eat smaller prey like impalas or warthogs. They’re known to even scavenge meat from the carcasses of dead animals.
Jaguars
Jaguars have some interesting preferred prey. They like reptiles more than other cats as there are more in abundance in their area. Turtles, caimans, iguanas, snakes, capybaras, deer, tapirs, anteaters, armadillos, birds, and more become prey for a jaguar.
Leopards
It depends on where a leopard lives when it comes to their preferred food. Leopards have a wide range, living in Africa and Asia. So they have a variety of food. Some of their prey sources include deer, boar, sheep, goats, primates, even other cats!
Bears
Bears are the odd ones on this list as they don’t only eat meat. Most of the other animals at Turpentine are known as “obligate carnivores”, which means their diet is almost exclusively meat. But bears eat both plants and animals! Bears will eat other mammals, but they also like fish, insects, berries, nuts, and roots.
Hyenas
There’s a stereotype that hyenas are purely scavengers, and while they do scavenge every now and then, they actually hunt 66-90% of their food! They’re adept hunters that seem to get a bad reputation. Their most common food source is medium to large ungulates. The list is long but just some examples of their preferred prey include wildebeest, gazelle, zebra, giraffe, buffalo, warthog, and hippopotamus. They might also go for small mammals, like baboons or porcupines. Even less commonly, they might go for other random mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and insects.
Overall, diets in the wild vary so much as animals tend to take what they can get! Come out to Turpentine Creek to learn more about the diet of our animals here!
Sources:
https://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg
*Published by Sara Edwards on 04/05/2025*