Dreamworld has defended the actions of its two "highly experienced" handlers, saying the media has "misrepresented" footage showing them hitting and pulling the tail of a tiger.

The incident was filmed and uploaded to Instagram late Wednesday night and shows two handlers with Akasha, a tiger at the theme park’s Tiger Island.

The video shows one handler pulling the tiger’s tail and another handler smacking the tiger’s head.

Many took to social media condemning the “cruel” act, but Dreamworld’s general manager of life sciences Al Mucci said the approach taken by the handlers was “consistent with normal tiger behaviours”.