Domesticated Animals Like Pigs And Horses Can Sense If Humans Are Being Impolite

Domesticated animals such as pigs and horses are actually smart enough to differentiate between negative and positive sounds made by a human -- that is, if they're being polite to them or not.

Unsplash

Also read:?World's First Pig Kidney Transplant Into Human Successfully Completed

This is according to a research conducted by the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Biology and ETH Zurich when they found these domesticated animals to react more strongly towards negatively charged human voices.?

In fact, researchers in several instances also saw the animals to mirror the emotion expressed in the human voice.?

The research included privately owned horses, pigs as well as wild boars and horses. They used a professional voice actor to avoid domesticated species recognising their owner’s voice. The voice actor was asked to record gibberish that sounded either positive or negative.?

The sounds were played in sequences -- either a positive or negative sound first with a pause and the opposite one right after that. Researchers made sure to choose the frequencies of the sound that were the most clearly audible to the species hearing it.?

They also recorded the reactions of the animals to observe the reaction. They specifically looked at ear position, tail movement, number of whines or squeals as well as the time they took while eating.?

Researchers wanted to understand if the animals would react to the emotions they felt. They saw that the sequence in which sounds were played had an effect on the response.?

For instance, when the negative sound was heard first, they saw strong reactions to be triggered in all the species except wild boars.

Unsplash

Also read:?This Machine Can Keep A Sick Liver Alive For A Week, Repair It For Transplant And Save Lives

Behavioural biologist Elodie Briefer, who led the study, explained, “It means that our voices have a direct impact on the emotional state of animals, which is very interesting from an animal welfare perspective.”

He added, “When the animals reacted strongly to hearing negatively charged speech first, the same is also true in the reverse. That is, if animals are initially spoken to in a more positive, friendly voice, when met by people, they should react less. They may become calmer and more relaxed.”

For more in the world of?technology?and?science, keep reading?Indiatimes.com.