CHEETAH OF THE SCRUM ZOO

The cheetah is a prominently vocal felid. While the cheetah can not roar but the other big cats can, the latter can not purr but the cheetah can. A wide variety of vocalisations of the cheetah have been identified by several terms, but most of these lack a detailed acoustic description, which makes it difficult to reliably assess which term denotes which sound. In 2010, Robert Eklund (of the University of Göteborg, Sweden) and colleagues published a detailed report on the purring of the cheetah and compared it with that observed in other felids. The cheetah purrs when content, or to greet known individuals. A characteristic of purring is that it is realised on both egressive and ingressive airstream. Other vocalisations Eklund identified include:

• Growling: Often accompanied by hissing and spitting, the cheetah growls to show its annoyance, or when faced with danger. A study showed that growls consist of numerous short pulses with a combined duration of up to five seconds.

• Moaning or yowling: This is an escalated version of growling and often combined with it. It is typically displayed when the danger increases. A study found that yowls could last as long as two seconds.

• Agonistic vocalisations: Eklund used this term as a reference to a combination of growls, moans and hisses that is followed by spitting, a feature most conspicuous in cheetah than other cats. In addition to spitting, the cheetah will hit the ground with its front paws.

In a 1991 book, biologist R. D. Estes had enlisted, in addition to the aforementioned vocalisations, some other sounds made by the cheetah:

• Bleating: Similar to the meow of the domestic cat, the cheetah can bleat, and sometimes moan, when a larger predator deprives it of its prey.

• Chirping or stutter-barking: A cheetah chirps when excited (for instance, when gathered around a kill). This vocalisation can also be used at social meetings, courtship, or when a cheetah attempts to find another; the chirp of a mother searching for her cubs, that sounds more like the yelp of a dog than the chirp of a bird, can be heard up to 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) away. A study estimated its total duration as 0.09 to 0.5 seconds.

• Churring: The purpose of this sound is similar to that of the chirp. It may resemble a growl. Zoologist Jonathan Kingdon considered the chirp of the cheetah as similar to the soft roar of the lion, and its churr as the latter's loud roar. The churr, is staccato and has a shorter range than the chirp. A study showed that churrs comprise 3 to 15 separate pulses and last 0.1 to 1.3 seconds.

• Mother-cub vocalisations: Apart from chirping, mothers use some other sounds to interact with their cubs. A repeated ihn ihn is used to gather the cubs, while a prr prr is used to guide them on a journey. A low-pitched alarm call is used to warn the cubs to stand still in the wake of danger.

• Whirring: This sound is produced by cubs bickering over a kill; the pitch rises with the intensity of the quarrel, and ends on a harsh note.