In nature, the South American margay cat eats small mammals and birds, which it catches primarily in the canopies where it spends most of its life. To keep the margay healthy in captivity, this specific hunting pattern needs to be taken into consideration. Therefore, the margay is fed in a very unique fashion here in Randers Regnskov.
Each day, the time of feeding changes from the day before. Furthermore, the feeding itself is carried out in such a way that the natural hunting instinct of the margay is challenged in a variety of ways. Animal keeper Maria Arentsen explains; “At the moment we have 14 different ways to feed the margay – ways that challenge both its intellect and physique. Sometimes we hide euthanized rats inside a hollow ball which we hang up in a tree. Other times we tie the rats to a rope that hangs in between trees – it looks a bit like a clothes-line! In this way the cat has to use his mind carefully to figure out how to get a hold on the prey”.
