A study in Barcelona has found that giraffes are capable of estimating quantity and understanding simple changes in arithmetic.
The research was carried out jointly by the University of Barcelona, the Leipzig University and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, and its findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports.
During the experiment at Barcelona Zoo, four giraffes were presented with two containers containing carrot pieces. The containers were then covered, and additional carrot pieces were either added or removed. When the number of carrots was increased, the giraffes selected the container with more pieces in 68 per cent of cases, a rate above chance expectation.
Tests on giraffes suggest mixed response to cues, quantity assessment
More tests were conducted to determine whether the animals were responding to human cues, such as touching the containers, or whether they were assessing quantity. Two giraffes appeared to be influenced by external cues, while the remaining two consistently selected the container with the greater number of carrot pieces.
Researchers stated that the findings suggest that at least some giraffes may engage in more complex cognitive processing. When carrot pieces were removed from the containers, performance fell close to chance levels.
Experts stated that giraffes do not perform calculations in the human sense, but the evidence indicates an ability to understand basic numerical and quantity concepts that influence decision-making.
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