Goats Recognize Their Childrens Voices

A mother goat is able to pick out her babies voice where there only five days old.  Researchers from Queen Mary University of London played recordings of kids’ bleats to female goats and watched their responses.  Researchers were surprised to find the animals were able to pick out their own kids’ voices.  They also found out deer have the same anti-predator calls as goats.  The researchers played young kids’ calls to the female goats and watched how they responded.  They made sure the mothers were the same age.  When hearing the voice of their own offspring, the mothers respond much faster.  They also would look around and call in response.  Scientists believe that this shows how smart goats actually are.  They also believe that understanding how livestock communicate and behave is very important to the welfare of animals.

Goats are just like humans in that females recognize their childrens voice in a room full of children.  Animals are more like us than we may think!

Image via Wikipedia