We contacted several people that care for large exotic cats to find out the typical yearly cost of feeding them. We were able to find out that many people get the majority of their meat donated for free. Stores will give them meat that is past its date for free because it would be tossed out anyway. Just because meat is past its date for human consumption doesn't mean it's bad for animals. One person said they get so much free meat that they're able to give it away to exotic animal sanctuaries in need. We assume Big Cat Rescue also gets a lot if not all of their meat donated for free too.
One person we contacted kindly educated us as to how many pounds of meat big cats eat each day. We were told a big cat like a tiger eats an average of 10 pounds of meat a day. That same individual said the lowest priced meat goes for .70 cents per pound where they live. They also pointed out that big cats eat 2-3% of their body weight each day and smaller more active cats eat 4-5% of their body weight each day. So using the information we were provided we can calculate how much it would cost to feed a tiger. We get completely different figures than what Big Cat Rescue claims.
One person we contacted kindly educated us as to how many pounds of meat big cats eat each day. We were told a big cat like a tiger eats an average of 10 pounds of meat a day. That same individual said the lowest priced meat goes for .70 cents per pound where they live. They also pointed out that big cats eat 2-3% of their body weight each day and smaller more active cats eat 4-5% of their body weight each day. So using the information we were provided we can calculate how much it would cost to feed a tiger. We get completely different figures than what Big Cat Rescue claims.