The magazine of the european research area European Commission Copenhagen, a missed chance?

    www.news.cornell.edu/ 

So who’s the fairest 

of them all?

If a pig ventured in front of 

a mirror it would probably charge 

what it would regard as another 

pig, we are tempted to believe. 

But according to a team of 

Cambridge University (UK) 

researchers in anthrozoology – 

the discipline that studies relation-

ships between man and animals 

– it would do nothing of the kind, 

at least if one is patient. 

Scientists placed eight pigs two 

at a time for five hours in an 

enclosure containing a mirror. 

The animals began by growing 

angry at their reflection, breaking 

the mirror on each occasion. 

After a few hours, however, they 

seemed to understand that the 

mirror was simply reflecting their 

environment. To check this, the 

researchers placed a bowl of food 

in the enclosure, being careful 

to install a ventilator to dispel 

their odour. The bowl was hidden 

behind a screen but visible in 

the mirror. All the pigs, except 

one, headed for the actual bowl 

within about 20 seconds. 

According to Daniel Broom, 

who headed the study, this infor-

mation may make it possible to 

improve the living conditions 

of farm pigs. With this intellectual 

prowess the pig joins the very 

closed circle of species with 

a certain self-awareness. 

The elephant, the killer whale, 

the dolphin, the African Grey 

parrot, the magpie, a number 

of primates and man from the 

age of 18 months, are all members 

of this ‘happy few’ who pass the 

mirror test.