To study the reaction of goats to a difficult problem, researchers tempted the animals with pieces of pasta. First they offered the goats (one at a time) a piece of pasta in a loosely covered, plastic container. The animals quickly pushed the lid off and ate the pasta. Then the scientists put more pasta in the container and shut the lid firmly. After the animals failed to open the container, the goats looked at the container then at the human, and repeated this many times. If the person was facing away, they looked at them far less often than at the people who were facing them.
The scientists say their findings suggest livestock have evolved a complex social relationship with humans, similar to that between humans and dogs. The intelligence of the animals and their ability to communicate are factors to be considered in issues of animal welfare.
Source: Goats display audience-dependent human-directed gazing behaviour in a problem-solving task. Christian Nawroth, Jemma M. Brett, Alan G. McElligott. Biology Letters. Royal Society. Volume 12, Issue 7. 2016.
- Janet Wallace