Tiger Vocalizations

-
The tiger communicates in fundamental terms like any other cat including domestic cats. It also scent marks as a form of communication. Scent fades and needs to be renewed. The tiger is a good vocal communicator.

Blue tiger vocalising
Blue tiger vocalising. Pic in public domain.

Some of the sounds the tiger makes can travel long distances and are designed for that purpose. And bearing in mind the tiger lives in dense vegetation the sound has to travel through that too. Other vocalizations are meant to be used in face to face encounters to greet, reassure, appease and to show aggression. Body language plays a role in these vocalizations. Close range, friendly sounds between females and young are obviously commonplace. The sounds are variable in "intensity, duration and rate of emission".

Tigers have a number of types of vocalizations:
  • main call
  • prusten - "staccato puffing sound" - close range sound. Greeting sound. Air is forced through mouth and nose. The lips flutter.
  • growl
  • snarl
  • grunt
  • moan - a subdued roar. Usually made with head down. Heard over 400 meters away.
  • meow
  • spit
  • hiss
  • coughing/snarl - short harsh sound with teeth bared. This sound is used when attacking.
  • tigers seem to mimic prey sometimes making a similar sound to the alarm call of the sambar deer. It is not clear why the tiger makes this sound. It may be designed to confuse the deer. Although an expert, Schaller says that it advertises the tiger's presence to avoid sudden encounters. I don't understand that.
  • "woof" type sound. This is a vocalized emotion of surprise.
The classic tiger roar is well known.  Interestingly, it is stated that tigers are not one of the roaring cats (lion, leopard, jaguar and tiger?). This is because they have a different roar to the roaring cats.

People can hear the tiger roar from 3 kilometers away. Clearly its purpose is long distance communication. It would be useful if we could communicate over 3 kms! The roar is used:
  • after prey is killed
  • before mating
  • during mating - cats mating
  • female beckoning her young
  • female advertising sexual receptiveness (not commonly). Coming into heat. Can occur day and night. Used to call for a male. Male arrives within 24 hours and roars himself!
References are from Wild Cats Of The World by the Sunquists pages 355 and 356. ISBN-13: 978-0-2226-77999-8

Comments

Post a Comment

Please comment.

Popular posts from this blog

What do tigers eat in the jungle?

-
Image
Chittal - tiger prey - Photo by monojussi Tigers eat anything in the jungle - whatever they can catch. But tigers need large prey to survive long term. Here is a list of prey items from Nagarole NP in India, Royal Bardia NP in Nepal and Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand, assessed from scats (feces). Tigers don't just live in jungle. They live in a wide variety of habitats including lowland evergreen forest, monsoonal forest, scrub oak, birch woods of Siberia (Siberian tiger) and the mangrove swamps of the Sundarbans (India and Bangladesh). The tiger is forced to live in these swamps (tidal salt marsh - largest in world). Tiger prey items in the above reserves: Chittal Hog deer Sambar Barking deer Gaur Barasingha (swamp deer) Wild pig Nilgai Chevrotain Hare Porcupine Hog badger Dhole Primates Lizards Of these the chittal is the most common prey. The sambar and barking deer are also common prey items. Prey items depend on the location. Ho
Read more

Mythology in China - Bai Hu (white tiger)

-
Image
About 6,500 years ago the Chinese divided the sky into four parts in Chinese astrology. They are north, east, west, and south. Each section contains seven stars which look like images of four mythical creatures and Bai Hu is a white tiger in charge of the west of the sky. The white tiger is a symbol of loyalty, power, justice and bravery. It was used by the military in Chinese history such as on a flag and seal. It probably still is. Bai Hu mythical white tiger from Chinese mythology. Image: Pinterest. Bai Hu represents autumn and it was believed to be a reincarnation of the tiger star, Alpha, in the Milky Way. According to I Ching, the tiger symbolises Yin or evil and the dragon symbolises Yang or good.  It roughly corresponds with the prominent constellation of Orion that dominates the autumn and winter night sky. Fiona Sunquist in her book (with her husband Mel), Wild Cats of the World , writes that "the breath of the Tiger creates the wind and the breath of the dragon creat
Read more

Can tigers meow?

-
Image
Yes, tigers can meow in their own way. According to a true expert on carnivore vocalisations, Gustav Peters, tigers have several types of vocalisations. These include the meow. They also include the prusten, roar, growl, snarl, coughing snarl, grunt, moan, spit and hiss. Tigers can meow in their own way. Is it a true meow? Photo: Pixabay. That's it. There is nothing more to say about tigers meowing but I'll go on! I had thought that they were incapable of meowing because they can roar.  But it depends on how you describe the meow sound. It is a 'elastic' sound in that it varies so much. You can't expect a tiger with their voice box to meow like a domestic cat.  There is a certain amount if imagination required to shoehorn the tiger meow into the category of sounds called the 'meow'. This is why it is a tricky subject to discuss. I have just written a page on the wild cats which meow . And that was difficult because except for the wild ancestor of the domesti
Read more