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Study finds giraffes may be capable of rudimentary math
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Researchers in Barcelona conducted experiments with four zoo giraffes that indicate the animals might be capable of basic quantity tracking, or simple math.
The University of Barcelona, University of Leipzig and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology researchers, who published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports, presented four giraffes from the Barcelona Zoo with two containers containing different amounts of carrot pieces.
The researchers then covered the containers, and the animals watched as the humans added or subtracted more carrot pieces to them.
The giraffes then selected the containers with more carrot pieces 68 per cent of the time, which the researchers said exceeds the number that could be attributed to random chance.
Researchers said further tests controlling for whether the giraffes were using other methods of decision-making — such as choosing containers based on whether or not the researchers touched them — indicated two of the giraffes may have been using that method, but the other two continued to choose the containers with more carrots at the same rate.
They wrote the results of those two giraffes suggest “the potential use of more complex mental computations.”
The giraffes were less successful in trials where carrots were subtracted from the containers, choosing at a rate consistent with random chance.
The researchers said the giraffes are likely not performing math the same way as humans, but show a basic understanding of numbers that affect their decision-making.
An Alberta baseball team hosted a Guinness World Record attempt involving an Australian shepherd jumping across the backs of 56 people.
The Edmonton Riverhawks, an amateur summer collegiate team in the West Coast League, hosted the record attempt for the most jumps between people by a dog in one minute during a June 14 game.
Chardonnay, a 4-year-old Australian shepherd belonging to dog trainer Jennifer Fraser, bounded across the backs of 56 fans arranged in a straight line in the outfield.
The record’s rules set a time limit of one minute, but Chardonnay managed to set the record in just 16 seconds.
Fraser said she trained Chardonnay to jump onto her back a few years ago, and her trick repertoire has since expanded.
“Jumping across backs is just one of her many skills,” Fraser said.
Firefighters and an animal control officer in San Francisco came to the rescue of a wild parrot that got its head stuck between panes of glass on a third-floor balcony.
San Francisco Animal Care & Control said on social media that Officer Mullen responded alongside the San Francisco Fire Department on Sunday when a parrot was spotted with its head stuck between two panes of glass on the balcony of an under-construction building.
Firefighters went to the roof of a building and lowered a ladder to the balcony, where they were able to slide the bird upward to free its head.
“They wrapped the bird in a towel and handed it off to Officer Mullen, who checked out the bird,” the post said. “Thankfully they were fine: their wings, legs and neck were all OK, so Officer Mullen released the bird.”
The parrot made its way to a nearby tree to rest on a branch. UPI.com
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