Kangaroos Communicate

Kangaroos, marsupial mammals that have never been domesticated, can intentionally communicate with humans, according to new research led by the University of Roehampton.

The western gray kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus) in Donnelly Mills, Western Australia. Image credit: Sean Mack / CC BY-SA 3.0.

“Domestication is generally assumed to have resulted in enhanced communication abilities between non-primate mammals and humans, although the number of species studied is very limited (cats, dogs, wolves, goats, and horses),” said lead author Dr. Alan McElligott from the University of Roehampton and his colleagues.

“In species without hands for pointing, gazing at humans when dealing with inaccessible food during an unsolvable task, and in particular gaze alternations between a human and the unsolvable task, are often interpreted as attempts at referential intentional communication.”

“This type of communication is considered a prerequisite for mind reading because it represents a form of mental planning,” they added.

“Because most of the research on behaviors that are interpreted as animal-human communication has been carried out on domestic animals, it is unclear whether they are found among non-primate mammals that have not experienced a long period of domestication.”

“Finding those behaviors in other species would suggest that the potential for animal-human communication is far more widespread, given the right conditions.”

In the current study, the researchers studied the ability of kangaroos to express human directed gazing behavior, as well as gaze alternations, when faced with an unsolvable problem task.

They focused on captive Kangaroo Island kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus) because they are known to be docile and interactive with humans.

They also tested small numbers of eastern gray (Macropus giganteus) and red (Macropus rufus) kangaroos.

The study was conducted at three locations in Australia: (i) Australian Reptile Park, (ii) Wildlife Sydney Zoo and (iii) Kangaroo Protection Co-operative.

The scientists tested 16 habituated kangaroos (12 Kangaroo Island, 2 eastern gray and 2 red kangaroos).

The study revealed that kangaroos gazed at a human when trying to access food which had been put in a closed box.

The kangaroos used gazes to communicate with the human instead of attempting to open the box themselves, a behavior that is usually expected for domesticated animals: 10 kangaroos actively looked at the person who had put the food in a box to get; 9 kangaroos additionally showed gaze alternations between the box and the person present, a heightened form of communication where they look between the box and human.

“Through this study, we were able to see that communication between animals can be learnt and that the behavior of gazing at humans to access food is not related to domestication,” Dr. McElligott said.

“Indeed, kangaroos showed a very similar pattern of behavior we have seen in dogs, horses and even goats when put to the same test.”

“Our research shows that the potential for referential intentional communication towards humans by animals has been underestimated, which signals an exciting development in this area.”

“Kangaroos are the first marsupials to be studied in this manner and the positive results should lead to more cognitive research beyond the usual domestic species.”

“Kangaroos are iconic Australian endemic fauna, adored by many worldwide but also considered as a pest,” added senior author Dr. Alexandra Green, a researcher at the University of Sydney.

“We hope that this research draws attention to the cognitive abilities of kangaroos and helps foster more positive attitudes towards them.”

A paper on the findings was published in the journal Biology Letters.

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Alan G. McElligott et al. 2020. Kangaroos display gazing and gaze alternations during an unsolvable problem task. Biol. Lett 16 (12): 20200607; doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0607