New research from the University of Zürich has unveiled a remarkable ability in goats: they can follow human voices to locate hidden food. The study, published in Royal Society Open Science, reveals that these domesticated animals can interpret the direction of an unseen human voice - a skill previously unknown.
Led by Dr Stuart Watson and Professor Simon Townsend, the research team conducted experiments with 29 goats. In the main trials, a researcher concealed behind a screen hid uncooked pasta in one bucket. The researcher then either spoke excitedly towards the baited bucket, remained silent, or spoke excitedly while facing away from both buckets. Another researcher subsequently released a goat, observing its movements.
The findings show that when the researcher made excited sounds in the direction of the treat-filled bucket, the goats moved towards it approximately 60% of the time. This success rate significantly dropped to 47% and 49% when the researcher was silent or spoke away from the buckets, respectively - indicating the animals were not merely guessing.
This ability has been observed in dogs and young children but not in chimpanzees, leading researchers to consider a potential link to domestication. Goats are among humanity's oldest domesticated species, and this study adds to existing research demonstrating their sensitivity to human cues, including following pointing gestures, distinguishing human emotions in voices, and preferring positive facial expressions.
Dr Watson highlighted that these findings could offer insights into the cognitive changes that allowed species to adapt more readily to human environments, which has implications for animal welfare. Professor Townsend added that the study underscores the increasing parallels between human and animal communication, suggesting that many abilities once considered unique to humans are being found in other species.