Do big cats such as lions, tigers and leopards purr like housecats?
There’s no doubt that big cats can purr… just ask anyone who’s ever worked with them in a zoo or circus, says Mark A. Pokras, director of the wildlife clinic at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. “Of course, they purr much louder than your typical household cat–tends to vibrate your whole body if you are close by.” Tiger trainer Sara Houcke, of Ringling Brothers Circus, told the “New York Times” her tigers purr to her and she purrs back. That way, when the tigers aren’t purring, she “knows they are in a bad mood and stays away from them.” But being there within earshot when a big cat’s in the mood is rare enough that University of Minnesota biologist Craig Packer says he’s never heard a purr in 25 years of studying lions in the wild. When lions do purr, it’s brief, probably issued only on the exhalation phase. So the lion- sound probably has little social significance. The same hyoid bone structure that lets a housecat purr in and out hooks up in bigger cats with fi
