the times | Wednesday May 25 2022 13
News
The next time you talk to an animal, be
sure to watch your tone and speak
politely. They can tell when a human
voice is expressing anger and will be-
come upset, according to a study of
horses and pigs.
Scientists already knew that dogs
and cats could read emotion in a
human voice and tell the difference
between positive and negative tones,
but wanted to find out if horses and
pigs, including both domesticated and
wild species, could do the same.
It turns out horse whisperers could
be on the right track, researchers sug-
gested. They set out to examine whe-
ther horses and pigs reacted differently
when presented with angry or joyful
sounds created by their own species, by
their wild or domesticated cousins, and
by humans.
The voices played to the animals
through loudspeakers were “meaning-
less speech” created by actors, a form of
gibberish designed to communicate
either the positive tone of joy or amuse-
ment or the negative tone of anger or
Horse looking down in the mouth? Don’t be so rude to it
Kaya Burgess Science Reporter fear. The positive animal noises were
recorded during feeding, socialising
and playing, whereas the negative nois-
es were recorded during periods of iso-
lation, to produce a series of either joy-
ous or distressed whinnies and grunts.
“Our results show that these animals
are affected by the emotions we charge
our voices with when we speak to or are
around them,” Elodie Briefer, a behav-
ioural biologist at the University of
Copenhagen, said.
“They react more strongly — gener-
ally faster — when they are met with a
negatively charged voice, compared
with having a positively charged voice
played to them first. In certain situa-
tions they even seem to mirror the
emotion to which they are exposed.”
Researchers from the university
examined domesticated horses and
wild Przewalski’s horses native to
central Asia, and also studied domesti-
cated pigs and wild boars.
The scientists monitored their reac-
tions to measure the extent and speed
with which the different noises prompt-
ed the animals to move around or stand
still, to stop eating, flatten their ears,
move their tails and tilt their head to the
side to hear better.
The study, published in the journal
BMC Biology, concluded: “Domestic
horses, Przewalski’s horses and pigs
seem to discriminate between positive
and negative vocalisations produced
not only by [members of their own
species], but also by [members of other
species], including humans.
“Our results suggest that the valence
[positivity or negativity in tone] of
human voice can have an impact on the
emotional states of domestic and cap-
tive animals.”
Wild boars showed a less marked
response to human voices comparedwith sounds from their own or related
species.
Briefer said further research would
be needed to assess the extent to which
animals “have an emotional life and
level of consciousness”.
She added: “Our voices have a direct
impact on the emotional state of
animals, which is very interesting from
an animal welfare perspective. If
animals are initially spoken to in a more
positive, friendly voice, when met by
people, they should react less. They
may become calmer and more relaxed.”
The wild species were studied in
parks or zoos. They were familiar with
human beings but not domesticated.Horses can even seem to mirror the
emotions to which they are exposedpatrick kiddTMS
[email protected] | @timesdiaryRoyal meeting
died on vine
The Queen’s decision to visit the
Chelsea Flower Show at short
notice delighted the gardeners
there. Five years ago Jeremy Vine
felt honoured to be one of a group
of Radio 2 presenters chosen to
create a sensory garden at Chelsea
but he missed the royal meet-and-
greet. As the Queen’s hat bobbed
closer, Vine fell foul of a jobsworth.
“Hey, you’re not wearing the right
pass,” the marshal told him. Vine
tried desperately to convince him
that the sign by the garden, which
had his photo, was proof enough of
his identity but it was too late.
“Possibly aware of the tense
discussion to her left, and the
gangly man with grey hair close to
tears,” Vine says, “the Queen chose
not to stop at my garden and went
to look at Chris Evans’s vegetables.”At least she didn’t snap at him. In
2008 Prince Philip was introduced
to Jamie Durie, designer of an
Australian garden at Chelsea. “I like
your tree fern,” the prince said. “It’s
not a fern,” Durie replied. “It’s a
member of the cycad family, a
macrozamia moorei.. .” At which
Philip turned away, muttering: “I
didn’t want a bloody lecture.”train of thought
The late Duke of Edinburgh,
below, was usually a stickler for
detail. When in 2015 he visited the
excavations for the Elizabeth Line,
which opened yesterday, the
reception party was carefully
briefed on all the technical
specifications in case he had a
question. Charles Goodson-
Wickes, the representative
deputy lieutenant of Islington
at the time, recalls the chief
executive going pale
when HRH asked:
“Got any pigeons
down there?” Asked
why, the duke said:
“Was at BakerStreet the other day. Pigeons got
on the Tube and left at the next
station.” I hope they had a ticket.selfless acts
Grant Shapps headed “Operation
Save Big Dog” on the broadcast
media yesterday, defending Boris
Johnson (again). It is not the only
dog the transport secretary has
saved recently. Six weeks ago
Shapps took in three Ukrainian
refugees and their dog, Max, but
the last has proved disruptive.
“The dog has been a big hit except
with our two cats,” Shapps told
Nick Ferrari’s LBC show. “They
have half left home and only come
in at night when the dog is not
running riot.” Knowing cats, they
will be plotting their revenge.George Harrison’s estate has given
permission for his name to be used
to promote marijuana in the US. As
befits the mildest Beatle, the official
dope is described by Mojo magazine
as “like a lazy afternoon spent
staring at treetops... not some wild
roller-coaster between anxiety,
oblivion and imagination”. It has
been called All Things Must Grass.finding your voice
In the latest Downton Abbey film
the stately home becomes a film
set. Gareth Neame, Downton’s
producer, tells Vanity Fair that one
plotline was inspired by the 1929
Alfred Hitchcock film Blackmail,
on which his grandfather Ronald
was a cameraman. Like the film
within his film, Blackmail started
as a silent movie and became a
talkie midway through, causing a
problem for the hitherto mute
leading lady. In Downton, Lady
Mary dubs the lines for a Cockney
actress; Hitchcock’s film
required Anny Ondra, a Czech
actress, to have her lines
spoken by the English Joan
Barry. It fooled critics. The New
York Times marvelled that
Ondra “does not speak
with any noticeable
foreign accent”.