Video: Different Kinds of Lions' Roars

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Lions communicate with a variety of vocal sounds, and their roar can be heard for five miles, as its intent is to let other lions know to stay away from their territory. Learn about the chirping sound made by lion cubs looking to play with help from a professor specializing in animal training in this free video on lions.

- How Do Lions Communicate?
- What Is the Role of a Male Lion?

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Video Transcript

Hi this is Gary Wilson at America's Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College. Lions communicate in a variety of ways with their vocal communication. The roar of course is the most famous thing about lions. And it can heard for five miles away. So it lets a lion advertise its territory and it'll let other lions know they should stay away from that territory. It starts as a low rumble and then it builds to this big full on, they're standing up, they use a lot of air, they're passing a lot of air through and then almost as it ends it kind of reaches a crescendo and then finishes with a series of almost barks. When a couple of lions are fighting they make, again, almost like a bark but it's more of a roar. Very loud, much more intimidating than what you might hear from a dog. But they also make friendly communications, friendly sounds too. A little cub looking for its Mom or wanting to interact and play with another cub will make a little chirping sound. It's amazing to hear this little chirp, chirp, chirp out of an animal that you know is going to grow to be 500 pounds. And that'll get the Mom to come over and lay down so the cub can nurse. And of course when they're nursing they practically purr like a house cat. They're so excited about getting the milk. And then lions will groom each other. They'll lick each others fur. They have a really rough tongue that's great for not only rasping meat off of bone but also for keeping their fur very clean. And when the lion feels that it's almost like a massage. And they'll moan showing how contented they are.

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Different Kinds of Lions' Roars

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