Study found that Kangaroos can learn to communicate with humans

A new study has stated that Kangaroos can learn to communicate with humans similar to how domesticated dogs do.

According to a report, the study comprised 11 kangaroos that lived in captivity but had not been tamed. Ten of the 11 marsupials eagerly contemplated at researchers when they were incapable to open a box with food. Alan McElligott, the Irish researcher who led the study said, “We interpreted this as a deliberate form of communication, a request for help.” “Wild species are not really expected to behave as those subjects were, and that’s why it is surprising.”

The co-researcher Alexandra Green from the University of Sydney said, “We’ve previously thought only domesticated animals try to ask for help with a problem. But kangaroos do it too.” He added, “It’s more likely to be a learned behavior when the environment is right.” He also said, “Some of them used their nose to nudge the human and some approached the human and started scratching at him asking for assistance.”

The team conducted the operations in three Australian sanctuaries in the state of New South Wales – Wildlife Sydney Zoo in the center of Sydney, Kangaroo Protection Co-Operative just north of Sydney and Australian Reptile Park on the Central Coast. The kangaroos were ‘highly motivated’ to access the food, which varied according to the testing location – either a piece of sweet potato or carrot, dried corn kernels and grass pellets.