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How to Tell a Leopard from Its Roar


Making a Shazam for conservationists

Leopards are classified as vulnerable to extinction—and in some places in Africa they are now considered “locally” extinct—but they are difficult to study because they are nocturnal, solitary, elusive, and roam widely over home ranges of up to 300 square miles. Studying animal vocalizations, a field known as bioacoustics, has long been used to monitor birds, primates, and marine species, but researchers have only recently begun to use it on big cats in Africa. Beyond the challenges of finding leopards in the first place, Growcott says that suitable technology is still emerging—earlier attempts to study vocalizations of lions, wild dogs, or spotted hyenas happened mostly with handheld microphones.

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