Dee, a female Bengal Tiger, at the National Tiger Sanctuary rolls her "r"oars. A great example of how unique some individual vocalizations can be. 

Photo by Lance Mac.

How to Roll Your R - Tiger Style

While at Big Cat Rescue, we had the chance of meeting many of their wonderful cats and learning all about their different personalities. One of these cats was Bella - a 17 year old, female Bengal Tiger. We could automatically tell Bella was a very loving tiger by how often she chuffed at us and the recorder. Unfortunately, this sweet-hearted girl was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma last month which has been deemed inoperable. 

Luckily, she has all of the amazing staff members of BCR to make sure her last months are full of happiness and loving care. Bella's voice will also make great contributions to the tiger vocalization project where she will help wild tigers live on where they belong.

This snippet is one of our favorite moments with Bella which truly shows her affectionate nature as she repeatedly chuffs (a friendly greeting) at the project crew.

Photo credit to Big Cat Rescue

Affectionate Bella

Summer Night Roars

Bagherra is a male tiger at Pride Rock Wildlife Refuge in Terrell, Texas. He is known by Pride Rock volunteers as being quite a "chatty cathy". We didn't quite realize how much of one he was until we started sorting through his recordings. Have a listen!

Bagherra Loudly Announcing His Presence to Pride Rock

Listen to the sounds of an animal sanctuary that is home to tigers, lions, wolves, and wolf-hybrids. Everyone wants to stake their claim! What you are listening to is the territorial calls of the big cats as well as the barks and howls of the wolves.

It's a Jungle at Pride Rock Wildlife Refuge!

American Crows calling at dusk at the National Tiger Sanctuary, Missouri, United States.

American Crow - National Tiger Sanctuary

July 26th, 2013 - National Tiger Sanctuary, Missouri, United States.

Ambulance Passing By

Gray Tree Frogs calling at the National Tiger Sanctuary, Missouri, United States during our initial vocalization collection.

Gray Tree Frogs (Hyla versicolor)

Shawna of Pride Rock Wildlife Refuge has a unique way of waking up in the morning. After a few stretches, she begins chasing and hitting one of her Boomer Balls across her enclosure. Eventually Shawna's neighbors seem to get a bit jealous and begin calling out around her.

Shawna versus Boomer Ball

Sinbad of Pride Rock Wildlife Refuge is caught snoring during one of our night recordings. Found by volunteer Amanda Westerlund. 

"What Do Tigers Dream Of?"

Rimba, a Malayan Tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni), was recorded at the Bronx Zoo in Fall 2014 using a Songmeter SM2 by Wildlife Acoustics.

Sneak Peek at a Malayan Tiger's Long-Distance Vocalization

Another great example of how our project has the possibility to help build better monitoring techniques for more species than just tigers. Here is a vocalization of a Swainson's Toucan recorded at the Dallas World Aquarium. 

Swainson's Toucan (Ramphastos swainsonii)

When Tulsa Zoo keepers told us one of their tigers commonly "barks", we had no idea what to expect. Luckily, we were able to capture this strange vocalization within the first round of recording at their facility.

A Barking Tiger? Tulsa Zoo's Malayan Tiger Jin

An Indian leopard vocalizes a mating call at the National Tiger Sanctuary, Branson, Missouri. Photo Credit: NTS.

Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca)

Tikva, Amur Tiger, at the Erie Zoo

The Prusten Project is an innovative project which combines the fields of conservation biology, bioacoustics, animal behavior, and ecology to study the social vocalizations of tigers. Determining if tigers do have unique vocalizations per sex, age, or individual could lead to new methods of remote monitoring which could allow a more efficient as well as minimally disruptive census of critical populations where dense jungle prohibits visual confirmation. A project of this magnitude will be the first of its kind for tropical mammals—specifically large carnivores. Acoustic monitoring holds the promise of more efficient protection efforts and decrease in the potential for local crime rates related to poaching rings, as a more accurate census would allow law enforcement to focus on core areas. Collaborators from the Fauna Communications Research Institute, Elephant Listening Project, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Panthera, and the Cornell Bioacoustics Research Lab continue to make this research endeavor become a reality while our hosting institution, the University of Central Arkansas, provides us with the means to do so.

The Prusten Project

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