袋鼠是如何與人類“交談”的

袋鼠是如何與人類“交談”的

Anyone with a pet knows that a dog or cat will communicate with their person whether they want a toy, to eat, or some attention. But a new study finds this behavior isn’t limited to domestic animals. Kangaroos also can communicate with humans, particularly when they want something.

任何有寵物的人都知道，狗或貓會與他們的人交流，無論他們想要一個玩具，吃東西，或一些關(guān)注。但一項新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，這種行為并不僅限于家養(yǎng)動物。袋鼠也能和人類交流，特別是當(dāng)它們想要什么東西的時候。

A kangaroo gazes at a box with food inside it and a person.Dr. Alexandra Green

Researchers from the University of Roehampton and the University of Sydney worked with kangaroos in Australia that had never been domesticated. They found that kangaroos gazed at a human when trying to get food which had been put in a closed box. The animals communicated with humans using gazes instead of trying to open the box themselves.

來自羅漢普頓大學(xué)和悉尼大學(xué)的研究人員對澳大利亞從未被馴化過的袋鼠進行了研究。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)袋鼠在試圖拿到放在一個封閉盒子里的食物時，會盯著人看。這些動物用眼神與人類交流，而不是試圖自己打開盒子。

The behavior, which is usually exhibited by domestic animals, was unexpected, researchers said.

研究人員表示，這種通常由家養(yǎng)動物表現(xiàn)出來的行為是出人意料的。

“I was very surprised, particularly on the first day of the field work when we were still developing the training protocols and one kangaroo actually demonstrated the gazing behaviour towards me. I think I actually gasped in disbelief as so many people doubted this would be possible,” lead author Alan McElligott of the University of Roehampton (now based at City University of Hong Kong), tells Treehugger.

“我非常驚訝，尤其是在實地工作的第一天，我們還在研究訓(xùn)練方案，一只袋鼠竟然對著我凝視。我想，當(dāng)這么多的人懷疑這是否可能時，我簡直不敢相信，”羅漢普頓大學(xué)(現(xiàn)就職于香港城市大學(xué))的首席作者艾倫·麥克艾力哥特告訴Treehugger網(wǎng)站。

“For wildlife carers though, this behaviour may not come as a surprise. However, it is important to test the cognitive abilities of kangaroos under an accepted scientific setup so that we can compare results objectively and potentially further this work in other similar species.”

對于野生動物保護者來說，這種行為并不奇怪。然而，在公認(rèn)的科學(xué)框架下測試袋鼠的認(rèn)知能力很重要，這樣我們才能客觀地比較結(jié)果，并有可能在其他類似物種上進一步開展這項工作。”

Getting Help with an Unsolvable Task

為無法解決的任務(wù)尋求幫助

For the study, the researchers secured a clear plastic box to a wooden board and placed a food reward inside that was very attractive to the kangaroos, like a piece of sweet potato or carrot or a few dried corn kernels. A kangaroo entered the enclosure while the experimenter stood near the box and another researcher recorded the interaction.

在這項研究中，研究人員將一個透明的塑料盒子固定在一塊木板上，并在盒子里放上對袋鼠非常有吸引力的食物獎勵，比如一塊甘薯、胡蘿卜或幾粒干玉米粒。一只袋鼠進入了圍欄，而實驗者站在盒子旁邊，另一位研究人員記錄了互動。

This type of experiment is known as an unsolvable task because the animals need help to get what they want. Ten of 11 kangaroos actively looked at the person who had put the food in the box and nine of the 11 gazed back and forth between the box and the person.

這種類型的實驗被認(rèn)為是一個無法解決的任務(wù)，因為動物需要幫助來得到它們想要的東西。11只袋鼠中有10只積極地注視著把食物放進盒子的人，有9只在盒子和人之間來回張望。

“Through this study, we were able to see that communication between animals can be learnt and that the behaviour of gazing at humans to access food is not related to domestication. Indeed, kangaroos showed a very similar pattern of behaviour we have seen in dogs, horses and even goats when put to the same test,” McElligott says.

“通過這項研究，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)動物之間的交流是可以學(xué)習(xí)的，而注視人類獲取食物的行為與馴化無關(guān)。”事實上，在同樣的測試中，袋鼠表現(xiàn)出的行為模式與我們在狗、馬甚至山羊身上看到的非常相似，”McElligott說。

"Our research shows that the potential for referential intentional communication towards humans by animals has been underestimated, which signals an exciting development in this area. Kangaroos are the first marsupials to be studied in this manner and the positive results should lead to more cognitive research beyond the usual domestic species."

“我們的研究表明，動物與人類進行意向性交流的潛力被低估了，這標(biāo)志著這一領(lǐng)域令人興奮的發(fā)展。”袋鼠是第一個以這種方式研究的有袋動物，積極的結(jié)果應(yīng)該會導(dǎo)致更多的認(rèn)知研究，而不是通常的家養(yǎng)物種。”

For the study, researchers tested kangaroos located in three locations: Australian Reptile Park, Wildlife Sydney Zoo, and Kangaroo Protection Co-Operative. The kangaroos were chosen based on how willing they were to approach the experimenters. None of them had been used in any previous cognitive research.

在這項研究中，研究人員測試了三個地點的袋鼠:澳大利亞爬行動物公園、悉尼野生動物園和袋鼠保護合作社。袋鼠的選擇是基于它們接近實驗者的意愿。它們都沒有在之前的認(rèn)知研究中使用過。

“It was previously thought that ‘asking’ for help in the form of human-directed gazing and gaze alternations was a trait reserved for domesticated species, which have evolved in close proximity to humans,” McElligott says.

McElligott說:“以前人們認(rèn)為，以人類引導(dǎo)的凝視和凝視交替的形式來‘請求’幫助是家養(yǎng)物種的一種特征，它們已經(jīng)進化到接近人類。”

“However, the results challenge this notion, suggesting that wild animals (in this case kangaroos) can learn to communicate with humans through having direct contact with them. We also hope that this research highlights the advanced cognitive abilities of kangaroos and fosters more positive attitudes towards them.”

然而，研究結(jié)果挑戰(zhàn)了這一觀點，表明野生動物(在這個例子中是袋鼠)可以通過與人類的直接接觸來學(xué)習(xí)與人類交流。我們也希望這項研究能突出袋鼠的高級認(rèn)知能力，培養(yǎng)人們對袋鼠更積極的態(tài)度。”