And to be honest, you probably won't find many (if any) Tigers that DON'T pace in captivity. I've never seen one who doesn't, even if it's only for a small amount of time. .
Hey, I´m the one supposed to write stuff like that on this forum !
But actually, I beg to differ in this particular case... I have extensive experience from tigers at two zoos: my "home zoo" - Copenhagen - that I visit several times a year and then Kolmården Zoo: I visit their 10 tiger web cameras basically every day.
Copenhagen has an average tiger exhibit, Kolmården has a brilliant one: but in all honesty I never experience any pacing in either one of them.
As mentioned, a degree of hard substrate is good for tiger paws/claws; they tread on flat rocks as well as soft grass, for instance, in the wild. The outer fence would normally be buried to prevent digging out; surface concrete is not necessarily needed as well, I suppose it depends on the ideas of the contructors. I have seen male lions digging to try & get at a new tiger next door (more out of curiosity than malice), but not other cats.
BTW, Diamond at the IOW zoo has created quite a deep perimiter path since last summer, not because he paces as such but because he's totally besotted with Rajiv, the tiger who moved in next door, and the pair do a lot of socialising & stalking along one side of the enclosures.
The concrete 'paths' are a bit of a Marwell tradition in the older carnivore enclosures, and whilst I'm not certain I believe this is indeed a security measure. Another possible reason would be to keep claws trimmed, as Marwell is very aware of hardstanding for hoofstock, so there'd likely be a carnivore equivalent.
Th original Siberian Tiger enclosure was on this site. At one of the initial Zoo Inspections at Marwell it was noticed the Tigers had created(by pacing) a muddy path around the perimeter of the enclosure and the park was requested to remedy this. A concrete apron was laid to rectify the problem.
Tigers and other big cats keep their claws sheathed when walking so concrete would not benefit them for that purpose. Instead Big cat enclosures are normally furnished with large logs the cats use as scratching posts for their 'claw care'.
