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Animal feeding is a popular activity among tourists despite its negative consequences that have raised concerns among conservationists and ecologists. There is a lack of knowledge regarding the underlying motivations of individuals who feed animals. This research aims to identify the drivers that underpin tourists’ inclination to feed animals using the free-ranging feral rabbits that inhabit Ōkunoshima Island in Hiroshima, Japan as a case. A self-administered structured questionnaire survey was employed to explore the motivations behind animal feeding among tourists. In total, 138 responses were collected and the findings disclosed four primary motivations for feeding rabbits:‘to get close to rabbits’,‘because rabbits are cute’,‘to make rabbits happy’and ‘to see rabbits eat’. Conversely, the drive to regulate the behaviour of rabbits scored the lowest. The present study’s findings reveal that the primary motivations for feeding among tourists visiting Ōkunoshima Island can be characterised as egotistic and instrumental in nature. This stands in contrast to the predominance of altruistic motivations typically observed in feeding behaviour outside of tourist contexts.