Pigs cooperate in problem solving without showing deeper understanding

Many animal species act together to achieve a common goal. Domestic pigs were recently shown to lift a log in pairs (joint log-lift, JLL) to reach food. However, it was not clear whether pigs understand that they need a partner for this task. A study now published in “Scientific Reports” by the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna could not prove that there is a demonstrable deeper understanding of the need for cooperation behind the cooperative behavior.

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In the test set-up of the study, pigs that had previously successfully completed the JLL task with partner pigs in the learning phase were initially confronted with the task/apparatus alone in the test phase. However, they could also open a door to allow access to a familiar partner animal from the neighboring enclosure to help them solve the problem.

In all test conditions, the pigs opened the door and allowed the other animal into their enclosure. However, a comparison of the different test conditions showed that the latency times to open the door to recruit a partner and to return to the JLL Apparatus after opening the door did not indicate that the test animals understood the need for a partner to solve the problem. “Like many other animal species in cooperative tasks, pigs may be able to achieve a complex cooperative outcome in the JLL task without fully realizing the need for a partner,” concludes study first author Jim McGetrick, formerly at the Center for Animal Nutrition and Animal Welfare Sciences at Vetmeduni and now at the Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology at the University of Vienna.

Together in action without knowledge of the connections?

According to study last author Jean-Loup Rault, Professor of Animal Welfare Sciences at the Vetmeduni, it can be summarized that “although the pigs in this study were very successful in lifting a log with a partner during the learning phase, the subsequent test situation provided only limited evidence that they also understand the need for a partner to successfully overcome this challenge, although they show great social motivation.”

This is because although they opened the door in the test enclosure and in some cases managed to lift the log with the partner in the JLL condition where a partner pig was necessary and present (in the neighboring enclosure), the comparison of the different test conditions largely did not show that they adapted their behavior to whether a partner was needed or not. According to McGetrick, future work will be needed to determine whether pigs are aware of the consequences of opening a door in such a situation - as this is not yet known either. Despite their known intelligence, the complexity of the tasks given to pigs is a challenge that other animal species, even humans, may struggle with.

The article „Pigs solve a cooperative task without showing a clear understanding of the need for a partner“ by Jim McGetrick, Kimberly Brosche, Clémence Nanchen and Jean-Loup Rault was published in „Scientific Reports“.

Scientific article

Scientific contact:
Öffentlichkeitsarbeit und Kommunikation
Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien (Vetmeduni)
medienanfragen@vetmeduni.ac.at

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