Nutrition for geriatric and incapacitated leopards (Panthera pardus) in captivity

Conflict leopards are often critically wounded and need care and rehabilitation under captivity. These incapacitated leopards need special health care and management including changes in diet to suit their physiological needs. In most zoos, a monotonous diet protocol of carabeef/beef is followed. It is essential to make changes to diet to suit the incapacity and provide wise supplementation where needed. In our study, five incapacitated or geriatric leopards were selected, their diet was modified considering their incapacity and their health was monitored by daily health monitoring, body score indexing, faecal scores, blood and biochemical monitoring etc. It was observed that making changes in regular diet to suit incapacitated and geriatric leopards was instrumental in the health and well being of incapacitated leopards in captivity. Similarly, geriatric leopards need special care to avert health complications and lead a healthy life.