Wapiti whistles sound like Ringwraith shrieks

For a majestic animal that looks equally at home as the monarch of the glen or astride the great American Plains, the wapiti's call is somewhat disconcerting. Sounding more like the shrieking cries of a Lord of the Rings Ringwraith, their haunting high-pitched screeches can carry great distances. 'Larger animals tend to have deeper resonances and lower voices', says David Reby, from the University of Sussex, UK, explaining how the pitch of an animal's voice tends to be a good indicator of its si