Sakura, a baby chimpanzee, is showing that chimps prefer melodic music. During a research trial to see which kind of music Sakura would chose, she preferred to listen to a pleasant melody than to discordant musical chords.
Santino, another clever chimp, who's at www.livesofanimals.org/2009/03/santino-rocks/
This shows us more fascinating evidence about the sentience of chimps. In this case, Sakura is in a human-designed, captive environment, which may be somewhat enriched, but which is still unnatural for a chimp. The fact that Sakura works out what to do in these circumstances tells us even more about chimp awareness and understanding. These abilities are strong indicators of animal sentience.
Sakura is not alone in preferring sweet music. Back in 2001, there was research investigating how cows reacted to fast beats or to softer music. The researchers said: “We found that slow music improved milk yields perhaps because it relaxes the cows in much the same way as it relaxes humans.”
Despite increasing awareness of animal sentience, there is still resistance to appreciating or acknowledging that animals are sentient beings and there is reluctance to peer over the barrier of “human vs other animals” that we ourselves have created.
Cows enjoy soothing sounds. Photo (c) Compassion in World Farming/Karen Playford
It was previously thought that this kind of choice and preference about music was a “uniquely human trait.” So we see that Sakura and the dairy cows have overcome yet another barrier!
As reported in the Daily Mail, Clyde is blind, and Bonnie leads him “to food or water, and lets him rest his head on her haunches when he feels a bit lost. They are inseparable, and if Bonnie isn’t nearby Clyde refuses to move a paw.”
Bonnie and Clyde were rescued as strays recently and now they happily have a new home. The BBC’s One Show has a special page and film about these two great friends.
Mila is a beluga whale at an aquarium in Harbin, NE China. The pool she lives in has an arctic temperature and is also used by divers. In a recent exercise, diver Yang Yun got into trouble and was unable to kick her way back up the surface. But suddenly she felt herself being pushed upwards – Mila was rescuing her.
According to reports, “Mila had spotted her difficulties and using her sensitive dolphin-like nose guided Yun safely to the surface.”
One of the staff is quoted as saying: “Mila noticed the problem before we did. She’s a sensitive animal who works closely with humans and I think this girl owes her her life.”
Belugas are very social and because they are so chatty, they are also known as sea canaries. When you have to swim great distances under ice in the Arctic Sea, it helps to be a good communicator so you can keep up with your pod and let each other know what’s going on. Sadly, beluga whales are yet another threatened species.
Bonnie and Clyde are inseparable border collies. Dogs are social animals so company is very important for them. But this is a bond with a difference: Bonnie is Clyde’s guide dog.
The Daily Mail reports that Bonnie leads Clyde “to food or water, and lets him rest his head on her haunches when he feels a bit lost. They are inseparable, and if Bonnie isn’t nearby Clyde refuses to move a paw.”
Bonnie and Clyde were rescued as strays recently. It appears they were lost in a storm and no-one has come forward for them. Obviously these two have a vital bond and they must be rehomed together.
Some pig breeding farms use computerised feeders for the pregnant sows. Each sow is fitted with an electronic collar which triggers the release of each sow’s meal individually. Perhaps unsurprisingly, some pigs reject the collars and will get them off. Other clever pigs have learnt that picking up the collar and taking it through the computerised feeding area means that they get another meal.
The farmer of course needs to replace the collars of the sows who discarded theirs, otherwise those sows will not get any food.
A TV series called ‘Clever Critters’ filmed some of these sows and you can see them here:
The clip says the sows are only fed one meal per day. The farmer does provide straw, a really important basic enrichment for pigs. But these clever animals may be hungry and they also will look for interesting activities to fill their days of pregnancy. It is admirable how they use their wits to beat the system!
Pigs are intelligent and curious and need an interesting environment. Image (c) Compassion in World Farming/Martin Usborne
“A cat looks down on man, a dog looks up to man,
but a pig will look man right in the eye and see his equal.”
Winston Churchill
