Chimps in Japan have been seen helping their companions out, purely on the basis of need. They would hand tools over to chimps in a nearby pen; and most notably this was most likely to happen if the chimp really needed the tool and requested it, rather than if they just wanted it to play with. This shows that chimps care about the welfare of their fellows and will assist them even if there is nothing to be gained themselves.
This helping is not just reserved for other chimps too – in a previous study by Warneken, chimps were also witnessed helping humans in a similar task and handing a stick to them on request. Videos of both of these experiments can be found below.
Chimp helps human- scroll down the page, and play the first video in the list.
Sources:
Yamamoto, S., Humle, T.,Tanaka, M. (2009)
Chimpanzees Help Each Other upon Request
PLoS ONE, 4(10): e7416
Warneken, F., Hare, B., Melis, A. P., Hanus, D., Tomasello, M.
Spontaneous Altruism by Chimpanzees and Young Children
PLoS Biol 5(7): e184
A recent test found that pigs understand mirrors, and can learn where a food bowl is through looking at the reflection. One group of pigs had time to get used to the mirror before they were tested, and another group were only shown a mirror at the beginning of the test. A hidden food bowl was then shown to them in the mirror. The food bowl was empty – so the pigs would not be relying on their sense of smell to locate it.
All but one of the pigs who were familiar with the mirror found the food bowl in less than 23 seconds – whereas the pigs who were new to it looked behind the mirror for the bowl.
Again, we see the amazing capacities of animals to work out their environment and shows the importance of using only high welfare farming systems as pigs easily become bored and frustrated in barren factory farms. At a minimum, all pigs should have access to bedding materials that let them root and explore like their wild ancestors.
Source:
Broom, D. M., Sena, H., Moynihan, K. L. (2009)
Pigs learn what a mirror image represents and use it to obtain information.
Animal Behaviour, Article in Press
Sticking with you. Copyright Compassion/Elli Goodlet
Hundreds of sheep have been given refuge at Farm Animal Sanctuary. Over time, they have divided naturally into two large flocks of around 200. All the sheep spend winter living together in large barns and yet in Spring, year after year, they will choose to re-group into almost exactly the same flocks as before.
Cambridge scientist Keith Kendrick found that sheep can remember at least 50 different faces for over 2 years.
These observations show the strength of sheep social bonds and the importance of respecting these relationships in modern farming systems. Sheep are often separated from their usual companions during transport, at transit points and at slaughter. Compassion believes that full account of animal sentience must be taken throughout an animal’s life.
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.
If by the word ‘language’ we mean a system of communication, animals have different languages of their own. Hens and chickens have over 30 different calls, which they use to alert their group to food or danger, for example. Chicks start communicating with their mother hen while they are still in the egg and cockerels have a special food call to let the hens know that food has been found. Hens make a gentle crowing sound when they are happy.
Socialising in the village square. (c) Compassion in World Farming/Chi Keung Wong
Pigs are very chatty, communicating with grunts, squeals, snarls and snorts, champing their jaws and clacking their teeth. Sows have a special call for their piglets when it’s time for the piglets to suckle. Sows and piglets keep contact with each other and with their mother by squeals and grunts. If piglets are separated from Mum, they squeal for her. Scientists found that sows responded more strongly to the desperate squeals from cold, hungry piglets than they did to calls from larger, more well-fed piglets.
Animals can also understand each other’s language. For example, some animals can understand the meaning of another’s alarm call.
Dogs and humans have a long history of living together. While dogs are often quick are picking up what humans are saying – perhaps by the tone of voice rather than by all the actual words – we humans often seem to struggle to understand dog ‘bark language.’ In this really interesting video, courtesy of the social networking site Petstreet , dog communication expert John Rogerson helps us decipher what our furry friends are wanting to tell us.
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
