Buzz
One day, you might find yourself on a dairy farm or in a goat yoga class, pondering an important question in life: What’s the best way to befriend a goat? Just like with people, offering a smile is a great place to begin. A recent study published in Royal Society Open Science reveals that goats not only recognize happy human faces but are also drawn to them.
For their study, researchers from Queen Mary University of London gathered 20 goats, 12 males and eight females, from the Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats in Kent, UK. They were placed in a pen adorned with black-and-white photos of humans displaying happy and angry expressions. The goats were notably more intrigued by the smiling faces, often walking up to the images and touching them with their noses. Smiling faces on the right side of the pen seemed to attract the most attention, which might suggest that goats process positive emotions using the left side of their brains.
We already know that some animals are excellent at reading human facial expressions. A 2015 study showed that trained dogs could distinguish between happy and angry expressions, even when only shown the top half of someone's face. This ability was thought to be exclusive to pets, but the new goat study suggests otherwise.
The study was limited, and the outcomes might have varied if the goats hadn't already been familiar with humans, as these were. However, if you happen to meet a goat in the future, offering a smile certainly can't hurt.
