The Tiger

The situations during which tigers roar indicate that it is mainly used for long-distance communication. And the sound of the roar, which is obviously very loud, also supports this viewpoint. Tiger roar. Image: MikeB Tiger roaring is heard in a variety of contexts including the following as per Mel and Fiona Sunquist in their book Wild Cats of the World ( buy the book if you are interested in the wild cats as it is the best ) after a tiger has killed a large animal as a prelude to mating during mating when a female beckons a young and when some tigresses advertise sexual receptivity ( I expand on this below ). A contributor to the Reddit.com discussion on this topic, Nick Nicholas (40 years studying big cats 😎) says that male tigers roar to attract females. He correctly states that the home range of male tigers encompasses those of several females, and males know when a female is in season from their scent, and they will roar to attract her. He also says that tigers roar to warn other...

Do tigers purr like domestic cats? The short answer is No! They have a wide range of sounds, many of which travel long distances. The tiger does meow. There is an overlap there with the domestic cat! I have a page on the sounds a tiger makes . Sorry that this is so short but there is nothing more for me to say! Except... To mention an interesting little point: it is said that the tiger roar is not a true roar and that the tiger is not one of the roaring cats (Gustav Peters). Figure that one out! It sounds like a roar to me. Let's say the tiger roar is different from the roar of the lion, leopard and jaguar.

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. 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...