Tiger Research
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I am currently in collaboration with Edward Walsh, PhD and Joann McGee, PhD at Boys Town National Research Hospital on a study aimed to describe the hearing capabilities of tigers and the acoustic properties of their calls. Audiograms indicate that the tiger’s auditory system is highly sensitive to low frequency sounds and possibly infrasonic sounds. We are in the process of analyzing the acoustic properties of tiger vocalizations to determine whether production data are consistent with the perceptual findings. Low frequency sounds travel farther and would be adaptive to the solitary tiger who wished to maintain hunting territories and communicate with possible mates. Through this research, it may be possibly to identify individual tigers based on their unique vocalizations. Tiger identification through acoustic measures would be useful in the monitoring of tigers in their natural habitat.