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Are domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) able to use complex humangiven cues to find a hidden reward?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

C Nawroth ,
M Ebersbach  and
E von Borell
C Nawroth*
Affiliation:
Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK Department of Animal Husbandry & Ecology, Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Martin-Luther-University, Halle, Germany
M Ebersbach
Affiliation:
Department of Developmental Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany
E von Borell
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Husbandry & Ecology, Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Martin-Luther-University, Halle, Germany
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: nawroth.christian@gmail.com
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Abstract

Understanding human-animal interactions in livestock production systems is crucial for improving animal welfare. It is therefore of general interest to investigate how livestock animals obtain information from humans. By using an object-choice paradigm, we investigated whether domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) (n = 4) were able to use a variety of human-given cues, such as different pointing gestures, to find a hidden food reward. In Experiment 1, an experimenter pointed towards a baited location in front of the pig while the extent of the protrusion of his hand from the upper body was varied. Pigs had problems using pointing gestures that did not protrude from the upper body of the experimenter, but were able to successfully use a long cross pointing administered with the contralateral hand of an experimenter to find a hidden reward. In Experiment 2, an experimenter indicated a baited location that was behind the pig using either a pointing gesture, his body or his head orientation. All four individuals used the pointing gesture and one pig was able to use the head orientation to find the hidden reward. The results provide additional evidence of pigs’ ability to use novel human-given cues as well as on the limits of their abilities, and will contribute to a better understanding of pigs’ perception of their stockpersons and handlers.

Keywords

animal welfaredomestic pigshuman-animal interactionhuman-given cuesobject choice paradigmpointing gesture
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , May 2016 , pp. 185 - 190
Copyright
© 2016 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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