Goats Are Not Stupid

Source: Copyright Christian Nawroth, used with permission

One species I have not mentioned here yet is the goat, although there are more than 924 million of them on the planet – and yes, they are smarter than you think. Actually, the first cognitive test I was involved in was with goats: We tested whether they follow the gaze of other members of their species (conspecifics). At the Leipzig Zoo, helping another student, I stood in a goat enclosure with a bucket of food. We then waited for two goats to stand opposite from each other, so that one goat could see us (the “looker”) while the other (the “subject”) was turned away from us, looking at the “looker”. Then we would raise our arm to indicate that we were going to throw some food. The “looker” was interested and stared at us. The question was: What would the “subject” do? If it was able to follow the gaze of the looker – maybe understanding that it saw something interesting – then it should turn around. And that is what subjects did (Kaminski et al 2005)!

Since that experiment, researchers have found out a lot more about these ruminants. Goats were domesticated about 10.000 years ago, the first species we domesticated after the dog. Just like dogs, but in contrast to apes and monkeys, goats use the human pointing gesture to locate hidden food (Kaminski et al 2005). They also can distinguish a friendly human face from an angry one (Nawroth et al 2018). Some goats can even master the shell game: Two cups are placed in front of them. They see how one is baited with food. Then the cups are moved, so that the locations are switched. Some goats are able to follow the baited cup and choose it at the new position. Thus, in that task goats outperform dogs (Nawroth et al 2017).

Asking for Help

In another study, it was investigated whether goats ask for help. For this, researchers used a setup called the “unsolvable task”. In the task, food is placed in a plexiglass box with a lid. In the first trials, the problem is solvable, as the lid is simply placed on top of the box. The animal can push the lid away and eat the food. But then – suddenly – the box is closed tight. Wild animals, like wolves, are very persistent and try to solve the problem on their own. But goats are domesticated – and what they do is ask for help.

Source: Copyright Christian Nawroth, used with permission

In the unsolvable task, there is always a human. Goats behave like most dogs here: They turn around and look at the human, and then they look back to the box. I am sure you would also know what to do, no matter whether a dog or a goat would ask you for help in that way: You would open the box for her or him. But goats don’t just look at any human, they look preferentially at humans who can perceive their signal. They do not seek help from humans whose backs are turned and cannot see them. They go for the ones who are looking at them (Nawroth et al 2016).

Goats are also performing well in a detour task, which is when the gate of a fence is moved somewhere else (Raoult et al 2021). They are neophilic, which means they can deal better with unknown situations than many other animals. In a recent study, food was hidden in a strange, unknown cup. Thirteen species of hoofed mammals were tested, but only goats and some camels approached and opened the cup (Caicoya et al 2023).

Thus, as Christian Nawroth, a leading goat researcher, puts it: Goats show high flexibility when faced with changing foraging and environmental conditions, as well as dynamic social settings. And he also has practical advice: If we are to promote good welfare, goats require at least some opportunity to utilize their cognitive capacities (Zobel & Nawroth 2020). Thus, goats should be housed in an enriched environment. Who could argue with that?