Fed up with Fido? Get a pet goat
|Published
Researchers have found that goats can interact with people in a similar way to dogs. Researchers have found that goats can interact with people in a similar way to dogs.
London - Tired of Tiddles? Fed up with Fido? Perhaps you should try Billy, the pet goat.
For researchers have found that goats can interact with people in a similar way to dogs.
And goats are also brainier than it was once believed, making them contenders for the title of man’s best friend, a study suggests.
Scientists gave the animals a tricky problem to solve and watched whether they looked to humans for help.
Goats from the Buttercups Sanctuary in Kent were given clear plastic boxes containing food and taught that if they knocked them over, the lids would come off and the treat would be released.
After eliminating the two goats unable to master the task, the scientists repeated it – but this time the lids were glued down.
This time, the animals looked imploringly for help from the Queen Mary University of London scientists.
They also looked longer at the researcher when he or she was facing them, rather than looking away. And some were so anxious for human help that they walked up to the researcher, much like a dog begging for food. Study author Christian Nawroth said: “Goats gaze at humans in the same way as dogs do when asking for a treat that is out of reach.”
It had been thought that such animal-human bonds, associated with dogs and horses, resulted from their domestication for work and companionship.
But goats, unlike dogs and horses, were tamed for the purpose of food production.
Writing in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, Dr Nawroth said: “Our results provide strong evidence for complex communication directed at humans in a species that was domesticated primarily for agricultural production and show similarities with animals bred to become pets or working animals.”
Colleague Dr Alan McElligott said: “From our earlier research, we know that goats are smarter than their reputations suggest, but these results show they can communicate and interact with their human handlers, even though they were not domesticated as pets or working animals. We know that in some areas goats are as intelligent as dogs, but there has been a lot more work done on dog behaviour and we are really just scratching the surface with goats.
“If we can show that they are more intelligent, then hopefully we can bring in better guidelines for their care.”
Among other animals, dogs and horses will often turn to people for guidance, while cats prefer to go it alone, research suggests. However, anyone thinking of buying a pet goat should be aware that brains aren’t everything.
The RSPCA warns that goats “can be destructive to fences, housing and gardens and can call loudly, which neighbours may find a nuisance”.
Male goats also smell strongly, while females need to be milked twice a day. Dr McElligott told the Times: “They are sociable but they do need a field. I wouldn’t keep them in a town. Don’t chuck out the cat or dog just yet.”
Daily Mail