Researchers in Barcelona conducted experiments with four zoo giraffes that indicate the animals might be capable of basic quantity tracking, or simple math, 24NewsHD TV reported.
The University of Barcelona, University of Leipzig, and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology researchers, who published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports, presented four giraffes from the Barcelona Zoo with two containers containing different amounts of carrot pieces.
After the containers were covered, the animals watched as researchers either added or removed carrot pieces before allowing the giraffes to make a choice.
The researchers found that the giraffes selected the container with the larger quantity of carrots in 68 percent of the trials.
According to the scientists, this success rate is too high to be explained by chance alone, suggesting the animals were able to assess changes in quantity.
To rule out other explanations, researchers conducted additional tests to determine whether the giraffes were simply following human actions, such as choosing a container that had been handled by a researcher.
While two giraffes appeared to rely on such visual cues, the other two consistently selected the container with more carrots, indicating they may have used a more advanced mental process.
The study also found that the giraffes performed less successfully when carrots were removed from the containers rather than added, with their choices in those trials being close to random.
Researchers concluded that although giraffes are unlikely to perform mathematics in the same way humans do, the findings suggest they possess a basic understanding of numbers and quantities that helps guide their decisions.