![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/A-jaguar-on-the-Piquiri-river-credit-Charles-J.-Sharp-from-Sharp-Photography-CC-4.0.-BY-SA-via-Wikim.jpeg\")
A jaguar on the Piquiri river \u2013 credit, Charles J. Sharp from Sharp Photography CC 4.0. BY-SA via Wikimedia<\/p>\n A jaguar on the Piquiri river \u2013 credit, Charles J. Sharp from Sharp Photography CC 4.0. BY-SA via Wikimedia<\/p>\n
While searching for their cubs, the females of the world\u2019s third-largest feline will make a sound that\u2019s strikingly similar to what you\u2019ve heard your own cat make.<\/p>\n
Weighing in excess of 300 lbs., the jaguar is a ferocious predator that can take large caiman and even cattle, but recent video camera trap footage has revealed they possess a softer side as well.<\/p>\n
In Brazil\u2019s Igua\u00e7u National Park, a team of British and Brazilian ecologists made this discovery during a camera trap survey, along with that of 2 other abnormal vocalizations, all of which were documented in 2 female cats on 3 separate occasions.<\/p>\n
Panthera\u00a0species, they detail, cannot purr like a housecat because of larger vocal cords and an ossified bone in their necks, but they can produce a sound that\u2019s very close to a \u2018meow.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cOur results suggest that [jaguars\u2019] vocal repertoire is more complex than what is described in the literature,\u201d the study authors write in the paper published in the journal Behavior.<\/p>\n
In contrast to other big cat species around the world, the jaguar isn\u2019t endangered, maintains widespread habitat connectivity, and is resilient in the face of human encroachment. Since 2018, biologists monitoring these cats in the UNESCO World Heritage listed Igua\u00e7u, have relied on camera trap surveys to be their eyes and ears. Every 6 seconds, Smithsonian details<\/a>, the traps will record audio and video for 15 seconds.<\/p>\n Several instances of jaguar meows were recorded, two of which featured an adult female that appeared to be searching for her cub, while the third captured a one-year-old female cub that was possibly looking for her mother.<\/p>\n CAMERA TRAP DISCOVERIES: <\/strong>Nearly 3x More Encounters With Endangered Sumatran Tigers in Camera Trap Photos Than in Past Years<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAs far as we know this is the first time that jaguars have been recorded using this kind of communication, which we are incredibly excited about,\u201d said<\/a> Dr. Marina Duarte, Research Fellow at the University of Salford.<\/p>\n