Scientists at an American university have discovered that pigs are not as “dim-witted” as many believe; in fact, they may even be smarter than dogs and chimpanzees.
New Study: Pigs Are Smarter Than Dogs and Chimpanzees
A research team at Emory University (USA) hopes that the results of their thorough investigation will help dispel the long-held belief that pigs are merely livestock raised for meat.
According to the researchers, pigs are smarter than dogs and can solve various problems and situations with cleverness similar to that of chimpanzees.
“We found that pigs share some cognitive abilities with other intelligent species such as dogs, chimpanzees, elephants, dolphins, and even humans. There is scientific evidence suggesting we need to rethink our overall relationship with them,” said neuroscientist Lori Narino from Emory University.
To reach these conclusions, the researchers conducted dozens of different studies on pigs and other animals.
Overall, pigs demonstrate remarkable long-term memory capabilities and possess problem-solving skills such as finding their way out of mazes and other tasks related to object locations.
Pigs can also understand a simple symbolic language and learn complex symbol combinations related to actions and objects, as well as use mirrors to locate hidden food.
A recent case illustrating this was a pet pig named Moritz, owned by Nicolle von Eberkoft in Berlin, Germany. In a test of color-matching ability, Moritz used his mouth to correctly place blocks according to their colors.
Video test of Moritz’s color recognition abilities.
A recent study by other scientists also indicated that pigs enjoy playing and often engage in playful teasing and mock fighting, much like dogs do.
Another study by Dutch scientists showed that pigs possess emotional responses comparable to those of dogs and cats. They express joy by wagging their tails, and when faced with stressful or dangerous situations, they may even tuck their ears back and lose control over urination and defecation.
According to the researchers at Emory University, pigs can exhibit a state of empathetic emotion when witnessing moving scenes involving other individuals.
Through these research findings, the scientific team hopes that perceptions of pigs being inferior to dogs, cats, and other animals will soon change, allowing pigs to receive the recognition they deserve.
