This clever crow seems to be using the lid of a jar to snowboard on the roof. This shows some important elements of animal sentience. We see that the crow has a clear understanding of what to do to achieve his or her aim (snowboarding in this case!), and how to do it. The crow has ability to plan his or her actions, and use a tool (the lid). Last but not least – it shows that birds love to have fun!!
Posts Tagged ‘Emotions’
Nov
21
2011
Parrot comes to puppies’ rescue
Sam, an 18-year old African Grey parrot, has helped save the lives of five premature puppies. It is reported that in the middle of the night, Sam flew upstairs to his owner’s bedroom calling “Come on, come on!”, mimicking his owner’s frequent command to her dog, Sally.
In the eight years he had lived at the house, Sam had never before been in the bedroom.
Going downstairs with Sam, the owner looked in the kitchen and found Sally and her newly born premature puppies in distress on the floor.
The story of Sam is remarkable for many reasons! He was aware of the distress of the dogs – animals of a species different to himself. This ‘interspecies awareness’ can be used by animal scientists as an indicator of animal sentience.
The words “come one, come on!” are used to encourage action or a bit more speed from another, and often they imply some urgency. We don’t know in which context Sally’s owner uses these words to her, but the signs are that Sam the parrot chose these words deliberately to get the urgent response needed.
African Grey parrots are well known for their intelligence and quick wit, and here is yet another example of their abilities.
Dr Irene Pepperberg has carried out extensive studies of parrots’ abilities to understand. Reporting on her findings, she notes: “Given the evolutionary distance between birds and mammals, these results have intriguing implications for the evolution of intelligence, the study of comparative intelligence, and the care and maintenance of birds held in captivity in zoos and as companion animals.”
This short film featuring Irene with famous parrots Alex and Griffin gives a very interesting and though-provoking snapshot about these amazing birds.
Sources
Lancashire Telegraph, 8 November 2011. Darwen hero parrot helps saves premature pups’ lives
Pepperberg, I. (2006) Cognitive and communicative abilities of Grey parrots. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 100: 77-86
Mar
09
2011
Mother hen
Hens with chicks are well known to be protective and caring of their offspring. Not only are hens concerned for their chicks’ safety and well-being, but they feel empathy, described by scientists as “the ability to be affected by, and share, the emotional state of another”. Scientists at the University of Bristol, UK, exposed mother hens and their chicks to puffs of air. When the air puff was directed at the hens, they reacted with signs of fear, becoming more alert and preening less, and their eye temperature decreased. When their chicks were exposed to the puffs of air, the hens showed all these signs but in addition, their heart rate increased and they made more clucking calls to their chicks - strong signs of their concern.
Mother hens feel empathy for their chicks
Researcher Jo Edgar said: “We found that adult female birds possess at least one of the essential underpinning attributes of ‘empathy’; the ability to be affected by, and share, the emotional state of another.”
The researchers used chickens for this study because in commercial farming, as they pointed out, “chickens will regularly encounter other chickens showing signs of pain or distress due to routine husbandry practices or because of the high levels of conditions such as bone fractures or leg disorders.”
Scientists have also found that hens can anticipate future events based on previous experience, and make judgements accordingly; they have over 30 different calls for clear communication with each other; and chicks can count! But these abilities and the sentience of hens and chickens are sadly disregarded in commercial farming conditions. Today’s study on hens and empathy gives yet more weight to the urgent need for more humane farming systems, in which animals can carry out their natural behaviours. Animals are sentient beings, and what happens to them, matters to them.
For information about farm animal welfare and how you can help end factory farming, please visit Compassion in World Farming.
Sources:
The foundations of empathy are found in the chicken. University of Bristol press release, issued 9 March 2011. http://bristol.ac.uk/news/2011/7525.html
‘Avian maternal response to chick distress’, J L Edgar, J C Lowe, E S Paul, C J Nicol, published online ahead of print Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 9 March 2011
Mar
03
2011
Optimism and pessimism in dogs
We all know that some people have a positive ‘glass-half-full’ attitude to life, whereas others are more pessimistic, and now research suggests that the same could be true for dogs.
Professor Mike Mendl, Head of the Animal Welfare and Behaviour research group at Bristol University, who led the research, said: “We all have a tendency to think that our pets and other animals experience emotions similar to our own, but we have no way of knowing directly because emotions are essentially private”. However, his research team was able to develop a new method to study ‘pessimistic’ or ‘optimistic’ decisions in dogs.
Dogs, like humans, can tend to optimism or pessimism
Separation-related behaviour and anxiety
Around half of all pet dogs in the UK will, at some stage of their lives, show separation-related behaviour (SRB) when left alone. SRB can include vocalisation, destructiveness and inappropriate toileting. Many pets are given up for re-homing for performing these undesirable behaviours; however, it is believed that dogs show SRB because they are experiencing feelings of anxiety. The research found that dogs who display high levels of separation-related behaviour also appear to have a more negative underlying mood (affective state) when they are not separated from their owners.
The research
Twenty-four dogs from two UK re-homing centres were used in the study. Firstly, each dog took part in a separation-related behaviour test which was designed to measure his or her response to being left alone. The dogs were taken to a room for 20 minutes where they could interact with one of the researchers. The next day they were taken back to the same room but this time the researcher only interacted with the dog for a few minutes, then left the room. The researchers used video recordings to give each dog a SRB score based on how he or she behaved when alone in the room.
For the second test, the dogs were trained that when a bowl was placed one side of the room (the ‘positive’ position) it would contain a small amount of food, but when placed on the other side (the ‘negative’ position) it would be empty. The bowl was then placed at different locations between the positive and negative positions. Dogs who ran quickly to these ambiguous locations, as if expecting the positive food reward were said to have made an ‘optimistic’ judgement, and others who moved more slowly and were said to have made a ‘pessimistic’ judgement. The dogs who behaved more pessimistically tended to be the ones who also showed higher levels of SRB when left alone for a short time. But should we be surprised by this?
Emotional states influence how dogs approach a situation
Professor Mike Mendl said “We know that people’s emotional states affect their judgements and that happy people are more likely to judge an ambiguous situation positively. What our study has shown is that this applies similarly to dogs – that a ‘glass-half-full’ dog is less likely to be anxious when left alone than one with a more ‘pessimistic’ nature.”
This study provides an important insight into dogs’ emotions and suggests that at least some dogs who show separation-related behaviour may have underlying negative emotional states. Owners should be encouraged to seek treatment for these dogs to enhance their welfare rather than give them up for re-homing.
Sources:
Mendl, M., Brooks, J., Basse, C., Burman, O., Paul, E., Blackwell, E. and Casey, R. (2010). Dogs showing separation-related behaviour exhibit a pessimistic cognitive bias. Current Biology 20, 19: 39-40.
e! Science News (2010). Dogs may be pessimistic too [Accessed 19 October 2010].
May
11
2010
A spring in their step
The signs are that dairy cows really enjoy being let out of their shed after a long confinement during winter weather. Our clip shows them enjoying their taste of freedom!
We have quoted broadcaster and farmer John Humphrys before but his remark is well worth repeating because this clip shows you exactly what he’s talking about:
“They tear about the field, kicking their legs into the air …For six months they have lived in sheds, slept in stalls, stood on concrete. Now, once again, they have the grass beneath their feet. They seem, quite literally, to be full of the joy of spring. It lifts the spirits to watch them.”
Dec
11
2009
Horses: Their Behaviour, Mental Abilities and Welfare
Horses have played a huge part in our lives for hundreds of years. Yet how much do we actually know about them?
Animal welfare consultant Heather Pickett has written a special article for our animal sentience pages. It’s a fascinating read about horses’ behaviour, cognitive abilities (such as ‘thinking’) and welfare needs. Horses have remarkably complex social lives; with membership of a herd being of ultimate importance to them and sometimes roaming for up to 80km in one day. They are great diplomats, able to resolve many conflicts in order to keep the herd together.
Self reflection. Copyright Compassion/ Ed Posposil
Mares often form lifetime relationships, spending most of their time together. Their foals often become good friends too as a result. They have remarkable memory skills and have even been shown to understand that a 3-D image can be shown in a photograph. For example, horses had been trained to have a ‘favourite’ object (for example a soft toy or a frisbee), using treats as positive reinforcement. Then they were shown photos of a range of things, including their ‘favoured toy’, and more often than not they would choose the photo of that toy. In a similar experiment (Stone 2009), horses were found to be able to tell the difference between photos of people, even identical twins!
Domesticated horses are often kept stabled alone and fed on concentrated food that is eaten quickly, rather than grazing the whole day as they would do in more natural conditions. These factors sometimes lead to destructive behaviours such as weaving, biting the stable doors and pacing. The occurrence of these unnatural behaviours illustrates that horses, just like many other animals, need an environment that more closely fits their needs and fully takes into account their sentience and intelligence.
Download the full article Pickett, H. (2009) ‘Horses: Their Behaviour, Mental Abilities and Welfare’. animalsentience.com
Shorter version also available
Reference: Stone, S. M. (2009) Human facial discrimination in horses: can they tell us apart? Animal Cognition, Online first.
Dec
08
2009
Fish have feelings too
Fishcount.org.uk is an engaging new website created to increase awareness of the plight of fish caught for food, and to promote workable solutions for the future.
It is estimated that approximately 1-3 trillion fish are caught every year. The methods used in most fishing ventures have the potential to cause profound distress to fish and therefore more humane alternatives are proposed.
Fish farming is on the increase. Given that conditions for farmed fish too often cause suffering, it is essential that such systems are designed to pay full regard to the welfare of fish.
The evidence for fish sentience draws on wide and varied sources, from scientific studies to a really interesting film of Comet the goldfish (see clip below) who has learned to perform tricks. He can play football, fetch hoops just like a dog, swim through a tunnel or a slalom…the list goes on!
We are given a deep insight into the experience of caught fish and shown the welfare shortfalls in modern fishing techniques. These include rapid and damaging decompression when pulled in trawl nets from deep in the sea, which often results in the rupture of internal organs; being left to suffocate on ice until they die; and in the case of long line fishing they sometimes hang for days before they are ‘landed’, condemning them to a slow death and vulnerable to attack by predators. We can see how much distress these experiences could cause to a sentient being.
Some people have traditionally thought that fish do not suffer pain and distress in that the same way as land-based animals and humans. But increasingly, science now suggests that this is not the case, and that fish and indeed other underwater creatures such as crabs have the potential for pain and emotional experiences, just as we do. This clearly has enormous implications for the treatment of the fish that are caught for our tables. Fishing techniques to date have only focused on speed and quantity of catching , and have not considered the suffering of those creatures who are caught.
Fish farming is on the increase. Given that conditions for farmed fish too often cause suffering, it is essential that such systems are designed to pay full regard to the welfare of fish. Fish are amazing animals with intrinsic value, and with our increasing understanding of their sentience, change is urgently needed.
Visit www.fishcount.org.uk
Dec
04
2009
Grandmother love
Following on from our post on the 6th November about Jasmine and Alfie, here are two more stories about care of young animals by other animals. This time it’s the turn of the grandmothers to teach us a thing or two about caring for animals. One of Compassion in World Farming’s supporters kindly supplied us with this story. Her neighbour gave a home to two generations of goats. When the youngest had her goat kid, she didn’t seem to know what to do. Even though the goat kid was repeatedly shown where to suckle, the two just didn’t seem to connect.
The grandmother saw what was happening and stepped in to help, even producing milk for the youngster. From then on she took it in turns with the mother to care for the kid, being there to support the mother goat and also ensure the kid had plenty of food.
Across the generations
Another example of grandmothers helping out was in the news last week. Researchers in Japan had been observing free-ranging macaque family groups when they noticed some interesting situations. A grandmother macaque took over the care of her grandchild when the mother disappeared; carrying, grooming and allowing her to suckle, although the researchers believe she didn’t produce any milk. Perhaps letting the baby macaque suckle may have been an act of reassurance for the youngster.
When the mother returned after a period of time (believed to be 6-14 days) she resumed her duties in caring for the youngster. Another grandmother was witnessed ‘sharing care’ with a struggling mother, and this time was believed to be producing milk as well.
A key feature in all of these stories is the fact that the grandmother was prepared to get involved quickly if needed, but was not overly possessive of the youngster. In both cases they seemed happy to share care with the mother, or hand the infant back when their job was done. This shows sensitivity to the needs of the situation, and more flexible thinking than if they were to simply ‘take over’ an abandoned youngster.
Sources:
BBC News – Grandmother Monkeys care for baby
Nakamichi, M., Onishi, K. and Yamada, K. (2009) Old grandmothers provide essential care to their young granddaughters in a free-ranging group of Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata)Primates, Online first. 10.1007/s10329-009-0177-7
Nov
06
2009
Mother Love
The importance of the relationship between a ewe and her adopted lamb. Image copyright Compassion/Elli Goodlet.
Janet Taylor of Farm Animal Sanctuary near Worcester told us this touching tale of two sheep. Jasmine was a mature ewe who hadn’t had a lamb for 6 or 7 years. A group of newly rescued sheep moved into the field next to her, including some orphaned lambs, and over the next few days she began calling to one orphan named Alfie. He was calling back to her and eventually Janet decided to put him over the fence to be with her – and see what happened.
Alfie began to try to suckle Jasmine, as he would have done his biological mother, and Jasmine let him do so. Janet felt that at least this would provide him with the comfort of contact with a ‘mother’ but continued to bottle-feed him. Amazingly, Jasmine began to produce milk herself and was able to feed her newly adopted lamb as her own.
We have heard about a number of female animals who have adopted and fed orphaned youngsters. This even happens across species; for example, pigs are known to have adopted newborn puppies.
This shows the strength of both the maternal instinct and the need to have care from a mother figure. Perhaps all the species we commonly farm have this need but sadly, they are often denied it. In the light of our modern scientific understanding of animal sentience, Compassion in World Farming believes that farming policy and practice must take full account of animal sentience – as is required by European Union law.
Jul
30
2009
Chimps and cows can be music critics too
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!