'What's that Skip?' Researchers say kangaroos can communicate with people

The classic TV show Skippy, about a child speaking with a highly intelligent kangaroo, might not be as fictional as we once thought, according to Australian and UK researchers.

A study from the University of Sydney and the University of Roehampton in London suggests that kangaroos are capable of intentionally communicating with humans, suggesting a higher level of cognitive function than previously thought.

Researchers presented captive kangaroos with an “unsolvable task”, in this case, food inside a box they couldn’t open.

Dr Alexandra Green, a co-author of the study, said rather than just give up when they couldn’t open the box, the vast majority of the kangaroos looked to the researcher and then back to the box, a gesture interpreted as a request for help.

“Some of them actually approached him and started scratching at him and sniffing at him and then looking back at the box so they were really trying to communicate with him,” Green said.

This “gaze” has been observed in other animals when asking humans for help, but lead author Dr Alan McElligott said generally that was true only for those that had been domesticated for hundreds of years.

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

Green said the study added to the idea that interspecies communication could be learned by any creature with enough brainpower.

“Originally they thought it was a domesticated trait but what we think is that instead of it being something that you’ve evolved with, it’s something that you can learn given the right environmental conditions. So in the zoo setting, where they are captive and around humans all the time, we think that they’ve learned to express this behaviour,” she said.

The research was done on a small scale, interacting with just 11 kangaroos from various species, but McElligott said it was the first research of its kind conducted on marsupials.

“Our research shows that the potential for referential intentional communication towards humans by animals has been underestimated … 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,” he said.

Green said she hoped the research would also help Australians gain more respect for the often-maligned kangaroo.

“They aren’t considered as cuddly or cute as koalas, so sometimes kangaroos get a bad rap … there’s sort of a divide, while they’re an iconic Australian species, at the same time they’re overabundant, they’re culled and many consider them a pest,” she said.

“Hopefully, understanding that they’ve got these complex, cognitive skills will represent them in more positive light as well.”

Green said the research did not mean anyone should approach kangaroos in the wild with an unopenable box full of food, expecting to have a chat with them.

“You most definitely should not. You read a bit about kangaroos attacking people, so yeah, I wouldn’t recommend it.”

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