• Advertise
  • About us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact us
Saturday, August 20, 2022
Australian Times News
  • News
    • Weather
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Business & Finance
      • Currency Zone
    • Lotto Results
      • The Lott
  • Lifestyle
    • Entertainment
    • Horoscopes
    • Health & Wellness
    • Recipes
  • Travel
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Weather
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Business & Finance
      • Currency Zone
    • Lotto Results
      • The Lott
  • Lifestyle
    • Entertainment
    • Horoscopes
    • Health & Wellness
    • Recipes
  • Travel
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia
No Result
View All Result
Australian Times News
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Just havin’ a quick chat with me kangaroo, mate!

Shades of Dr Dolittle? Or have they been at the Christmas wine? Researchers say kangaroos really can 'talk' to us.

Mike Simpson by Mike Simpson
20-12-2020 03:00
in News
A kangaroo displays gaze alternation between the unsolvable box and a human. The person pictured is lead author Dr Alan McElligott. Photo credit: Alexandra Green. Location: Australian Reptile Park

A kangaroo displays gaze alternation between the unsolvable box and a human. The person pictured is lead author Dr Alan McElligott. Photo credit: Alexandra Green. Location: Australian Reptile Park

Animals that have never been domesticated, such as kangaroos, can intentionally communicate with humans, a groundbreaking study from the University of Sydney and University of Roehampton in London has found.

This challenges the notion that this behaviour is usually restricted to domesticated animals like dogs, horses or goats.

The research paper, published in the journal Biology Letters, revealed that kangaroos gazed at a human when trying to access food which had been put in a closed plastic container. The animals used gazes to communicate with the people after trying and failing to open the container themselves.

Behaviour expected from domesticated animals

According to the scientists, this is a behaviour that is usually expected for domesticated animals.

“Their gaze was pretty intense,” said co-author Dr Alexandra Green, a post-doctoral researcher based at the Sydney School of Veterinary Science.

“We’ve previously thought only domesticated animals try to ask for help with a problem. But kangaroos do it too. If they can’t open the box, they look at the human and back to the container. Some of them used their nose to nudge the human and some approached the human and started scratching at him asking for assistance.”

Interaction is a heightened form of communication

In the tests, ten out of 11 kangaroos actively looked at the person who had put the food in a plastic container, in order to get access to it. This type of experiment is known as ‘the unsolvable problem task’.

AlsoRead...

May's Weather Forecast

Weather Forecast 20 August 2022

20 August 2022
May's Weather Forecast

Weather Forecast 19 August 2022

19 August 2022

Nine of the 11 kangaroos additionally showed gaze alternations between the container and the person present, which is a heightened form of communication.

“Through this study, we were able to see that communication between animals can be learnt and that the behaviour of gazing at humans to access food is not related to domestication,” explained the lead author, Dr Alan McElligott from the University of Roehampton (now based at City University of Hong Kong).

Familiar with humans, but still non-domesticated

The kangaroos in the study were not wild kangaroos in the bush, as they would be too fearful around humans.

The kangaroos were captive animals living at a number of zoos in Australia. They were familiar with humans, but they are still non-domesticated. The definition of domesticated is animals selectively bred over generations to live alongside people.

“Our research shows that the potential for intentional communication towards humans by animals has been underestimated, which signals an exciting development in this area,” Dr McElligott said.

Tags: animal communicationanimal languagesanimalsAustraliaKangaroosScientific researchUniversity of Sydney
DMCA.com Protection Status

SUBSCRIBE to our NEWSLETTER

[mc4wp_form id=”2384248″]

Don't Miss

Horoscopes: 20 August 2022 – Saturday

by Adamu
20 August 2022
Free Daily Horoscope - Astrology
Horoscopes

Keep your karma positive with these daily free horoscopes!

Read more

Weather Forecast 20 August 2022

by Adamu
20 August 2022
May's Weather Forecast
Australia Weather

Be prepared for any weather with our daily weather forecast for Australia.

Read more

Horoscopes: 19 August 2022 – Friday

by Adamu
19 August 2022
Free Daily Horoscope - Astrology
Horoscopes

Keep your karma positive with these daily free horoscopes!

Read more

Weather Forecast 19 August 2022

by Adamu
19 August 2022
May's Weather Forecast
Australia Weather

Be prepared for any weather with our daily weather forecast for Australia.

Read more

Horoscopes: 18 August 2022 – Thursday

by Adamu
18 August 2022
Free Daily Horoscope - Astrology
Horoscopes

Keep your karma positive with these daily free horoscopes!

Read more

Weather Forecast 18 August 2022

by Adamu
18 August 2022
May's Weather Forecast
Australia Weather

Be prepared for any weather with our daily weather forecast for Australia.

Read more

6 Newbie Tactics for Betting on Sports

by Alan Aldridge
18 August 2022
6 Newbie Tactics for Betting on Sports
Gambling

Australia is a nation that adores sports - it runs right through its identity. If they’re not outdoors playing a...

Read more
Load More

Copyright © Blue Sky Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
australiantimes.co.uk is a division of Blue Sky Publications Ltd. Reproduction without permission prohibited. DMCA.com Protection Status

  • About us
  • Write for Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact us
  • T&Cs, Privacy and GDPR
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Weather
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Business & Finance
      • Currency Zone
    • Lotto Results
      • The Lott
  • Lifestyle
    • Entertainment
    • Horoscopes
    • Health & Wellness
    • Recipes
  • Travel
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia

Copyright © Blue Sky Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
australiantimes.co.uk is a division of Blue Sky Publications Ltd. Reproduction without permission prohibited. DMCA.com Protection Status