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NewsIt may sound a bit “Dr. Doolittle,” but it turns out kangaroos can communicate with humans.
Researchers found that kangaroos “intentionally” communicated with humans — a behavior that was previously thought to be reserved for domesticated animals, like dogs, horses, or goats.
Experts from London’s University of Roehampton and the University of Sydney set up a task, known as “the unsolvable problem task,” where they presented kangaroos with food trapped inside a plastic container.
After trying, and failing, to open the boxes, the kangaroos turned their gaze on a nearby human — and sometimes even nudged or scratched them to ask for help, researchers said.
“Their gaze was pretty intense,” co-author Alexandra Green, a post-doctoral researcher in the Sydney School of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney, said in a statement.
By Amy Woodyatt | 16 Dec 2020