Smart sheep aren’t so woolly after all
說羊其實很聰明的動物耶….. 走迷宮每次走的越來越順, 越來越快. 滿厲害的嘛! 以前的人都說豬是懶的動物, 後來又說其實是聰明的. 看什麼時候有誰拿豬來做個研究吧! lol
(from ninemsn.com.au)
Smart sheep aren’t so woolly after all
20:33 AEST Wed Aug 31 2005
Sheep are not renowned for their intellect, but an Australian researcher has proven they are smarter than most of us think.
And some are smarter than others, leading scientists to believe they carry a specific “smart gene” that once identified will allow farmers to better select their livestock.
CSIRO research scientist Dr Caroline Lee tested a group of 60 Merino sheep by putting them through a complex maze.
Dr Lee found the sheep not only worked out how to navigate the maze but got better each time they did it.
“We actually showed sheep were smarter than people previously thought,” Dr Lee said.
The results had dispelled the popular belief sheep were mindless animals, she said.
In the test, individual sheep were placed at the start of the maze, which measured 18 metres by eight metres.
Dr Lee used the sheep’s strong flocking instinct, largely blamed for their brainless reputation, to entice them through the test by placing their “flockmates” in sight at the end of the maze.
The test was done over three days and repeated after six weeks with the time taken to complete it and the number of errors made recorded for each animal.
“We showed that sheep on average took two minutes on the first day and then they really significantly improved their time and were down to around 30 seconds on the third day,” Dr Lee said.
“In addition, we actually measured them six weeks later … and we found that they had retained their memory and were at a similar level to the previous test.”
To show this was the result of a thought process rather than instinct, some of the sheep were given a memory-impairing drug.
Dr Lee said the drugged sheep performed worse then their drug-free flockmates.
But overall, some sheep were just smarter than others, she said.
The CSIRO is currently screening 600 sheep of different breeds to determine whether they have a smart gene or genes.
This could take up to five years, Dr Lee said.
The ability to genetically select flocks of smart sheep was important as farming became more technological advanced, she said.
Farmers for example now use automated scales which sheep need to walk across.
“Smarter sheep are more able to deal with the new systems,” Dr Lee said.
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