According to new research, goats are attracted to smiling faces.
Goats are attracted to humans with happy facial expressions. For those who still think that animals are not empathic and sensitive beings will have to change their mind and consider that probably even a wider range of animals can read the moods of people more than previously thought.
This is confirmed by some researchers at Queen Mary, University of London, according to which goats are attracted to smiling faces.
Having established the fact, therefore, that certain meditation techniques would do well to give up goats, this research would confirm the most tender thing in the animal world: we can all be conquered with a smile and that, if so far there was no evidence that animals such as goats were able to read human facial expressions, but now new paths are opening up to understanding of the emotional life of all our four-legged friends.
The study found that poultry animals can react to humans with fear, indifference or occasionally - in the case of goats - hostility, but also that they may prefer people who smile.
The analysis took place at the Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats in Kent, Great Britain, and consisted of hanging two black and white photos about 1,3 meters apart on a wall in the test area. Then a goat was introduced that could freely explore the environment.
In this way, it was found that goats much preferred smiling faces and they approached the images of happiness before examining the angry images. They also explored faces with a smile on their faces for a longer time. But the effect was only significant if the smiling image hung on the right. If it was on the left, the animals did not pronounce preferences. This would probably be because goats use a lobe of the brain to process information, a phenomenon common to other animal species, or that the left side of the brain processes positive emotions.
"Not only are goats perfectly capable of interpreting our emotions - explain the authors -, but in their relationships with humans they also show a marked preference for happy people".
What does it mean? That yes, goats "read" human facial expressions, but perhaps this also indicates that that ability to perceive them is not a skill limited only to species with a long history of domestication behind them, such as dogs or horses.
"The study - says McElligott who conducted the research - has important implications on the way we interact with livestock, because the ability to understand our feelings may not be exclusive to traditional 'pets', but much more widespread".
All staring at goats, therefore, in a nice and peaceful way.
You never know that you will receive more affection and understanding from her than any other human being ...
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Germana Carillo
