Subject: Cognition

Horses can learn to identify joy and sadness against other basic emotions from human facial expressions

Plotine Jardat, Zoé Menard-Peroy, Céline Parias, Fabrice Reigner, Ludovic Calandreau, Léa Lansade

Published in 2024

Scientific paper showing that horses are able to distinguish the facial expressions of joy or sadness humans. This discovery adds to our understanding of the cognitive processing of human facial expressions by horses.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords: Cognitive processes, Consciousness, Memory, Human-animal relationships,Learning, training

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Equine Wellness: How Horses See Color

Michael Hipp, Victoria Doulgerakis

Published in 2024

Article describing horses' visual spectrum, their color preferences and the impact of environmental color choices on their welfare. 

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords : Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Housing, Living environment, Stress

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Conscience et douleur chez les insectes

GIS FC3R

Published in 2024

Article on the status of current scientific knowledge concerning consciousness and pain in insects, summarizing the definitions of each, the evidence for their presence in insects and the knowledge gaps that prevent a definitive conclusion to be reached, also outlining the current scientific debate on the issue.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Insects

Keywords: Consciousness, Pain

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Sixty Years of Tinbergen's Four Questions and Their Continued Relevance to Applied Behaviour and Welfare Research in Zoo Animals: A Commentary

Robert Kelly, Paul Rose

Published in 2024

Scientific article illustrating how ethologist Tinbergen's four questions - based on the causality, ontogeny, phylogeny and function of animal behaviors - can help zoo animal research in areas such as sentience, welfare, conservation and species management.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: All animals

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Biodiversity, Population management, Living environment, Evolutionary processes, Behavioural disorders

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Exploration of skin redness and immunoglobulin A as markers of the affective states of hens

Delphine Soulet, Anissa Jahoui, Rodrigo Guabiraba, Léa Lansade, Marie-Claire Blache, Benoît Piégu, Gaëlle Lefort, Vanaique Guillory, Pascale Quéré, Karine Germain, Frédéric Lévy, Scott A. Love, Aline Bertin, Cécile Arnould

Published in 2024

Scientific article reporting that hens display increased redness of the facial skin in situations eliciting positive or negative affective states, with high-intensity negative situations resulting in the highest degree of redness. Meanwhile, situations could produce minor changes in immunoglobulin A concentrations. The authors conclude that changes in facial skin redness do indeed reflect variations in the hens' affective states and can be used as a marker when assessing the quality of the human-hen relationship.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Fear, Human-animal relationships, Welfare indicators

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Catcalls: exotic cats discriminate the voices of familiar caregivers

Crews T, Vonk J, McGuire M.

Published in 2024

Scientific study on whether undomesticated Felidae species recognize familiar human voices by exposing them to audio playbacks of familiar and unfamiliar humans using the cats' names and measuring the latency, intensity and duration of the cats' responses. The results suggest that close human contact rather than domestication is associated with the ability to distinguish between human voices, and that less social species may have socio-cognitive abilities similar to those of more gregarious species.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Felines

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Human-animal relationships, Socialization, Vocalisation

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Fowl language: AI is learning to analyze chicken communications to help us understand what all the clucking's about

Suresh Neethirajan

Published in 2024

Popular science article on the benefits of an AI tool to interpret the complex vocal linguistic system used by chickens. Combined with an analysis of non-vocal cues, the tool would make it possible to understand the birds' emotional states. This interpretation of different chicken vocalizations could lead to improved farming practices and a change in how we view our relationship with animals.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Precision farming, Human-animal relationships, Vocalisation

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Air bubble curtain improves the welfare of captive rainbow trout fry and fingerlings

Océane Amichaud, Thomas Lafond, Georgina Lea Fazekas, Aude Kleiber, Thierry Kerneis, Axel Batard, Lionel Goardon, Laurent Labbé, Sophie Lambert, Sylvain Milla, Violaine Colson

Published in 2024

Scientific article showing that the repeated diffusion of bubbles in a tank improved the welfare of rainbow trout. The short-term (~7 weeks) and long-term (~21 weeks) enrichment effects were similar to those observed with more conventional environmental enrichment (provision of plants and shelter). The fish were less aggressive, less fearful and showed enhanced learning abilities.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords: Animal-based measurements, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Learning, training, Enrichment, Wefare indicators, Housing, Living environment, Behavioural disorders, Stress

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Training of transport drivers improves their handling of pigs during loading for transport to slaughter

S. Wilhelmsson, P.H. Hemsworth, M. Andersson, J. Yngvesson, L. Hemsworth, J. Hultgren

Published in 2024

Scientific article showing the positive impact of cognitive-behavioral training on the behavior and beliefs of lorry drivers working in livestock transport (pigs).

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Animal trade, Education, Human-animal relationships, Transport

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The links between positive human interaction and maternal behaviour and welfare of commercial breeding dams (Canis familiaris)

Uri Baqueiro-Espinosa, Paul Donnelly, Victoria McEvoy, Gareth Arnott

Published in 2024

Scientific article showing the positive effect of social enrichment (positive human-animal interactions) during gestation on a bitch's maternal behavior and on stress as measured by capillary cortisol levels.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Canine

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Enrichment, Lactation, Maternity, Prenatal issues, Human-animal relationships, Socialization, Stress

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