I was wondering about something in your zoo post reply. You mentioned that 'cuddling' should never be considered enrichment for wild animals. It's a statement/debate that I've seen and followed many times, but I've never actually been clear on the why. Cuddling tigers somehow seems 'logically bad' - yet my hesitation comes (in part) from captive dolphins. There physical contact can definitely be part of their enrichment. Why not other animals? Or should dolphins be no exception in your opinion?
Personally, the main difference is not the action itself (although we’ll get to that later) but the intent. Tactile behaviors like rubdowns? Sure. Commensurate grooming behavior? Sure. The problem is when the people whose responsibility it is to care for these animals as wild animals and not pets - the people whose job it is to help them be ambassadors for their entire species - refer to those interactions as ‘cuddling’. Not only is it inappropriate professionally to cuddle animals on their care, but they’re contributing massively to the rampant problems with the misrepresentation of how wild animals interact with humans. Interaction can be enrichment but it needs to be done professionally and not portrayed as ‘getting love on the animal’ or ‘this animal loves me’.
As to the actual interactions themselves, cuddling tigers is logically a bad idea because they are huge, powerful predators with lots of pointy ends and decidedly non-domestic personality. They’re solitary. They don’t really want to seek out affiliative interactions with other animals. Dolphins, in contrast, are much less dangerous than tigers (in obvious ways). They’re still big and powerful, but they don’t move on land and it’s much harder for them to sneak-attack you from above your head. They’ve only got one place with pointy things and you can generally see it coming. But, importantly, they’re social animals with the need for affiliative interactions with other animals. Whereas tigers only interact with other animals to kill them, chase them off, or mate, dolphins are notably gregarious - it’s much more in their behavioral repertoire to have social interactions at all.
People are also less likely to be in the water with dolphins for those enriching interactions. Waterwork is a thing but generally done by really long-term professionals, and most other things like rubdowns are done poolside, standing in shallow water, or on a slideout. To snuggle a tiger, you have to go into the cage with it.
