A study from the University of Sydney (Australia) and the University of Roehampton in the UK showed that kangaroos are able to communicate intentionally with humans, showing higher levels of cognitive function than people think.

The researchers tested by giving captive kangaroos a food box they could not open on their own.

Dr Alexandra Green, co-author of the study, said that instead of giving up, the vast majority of kangaroos looked at the researchers and then back at the box, a gesture known as love. Bridge for help.

"Some of them actually approached us and started scratching and sniffing as if to communicate and get attention, before looking back at the food box," Ms. Green said.

This communication has been observed in many other animals when they ask for help from humans, but study co-author Dr Alan McElligott thinks this only exists in domesticated species. from thousands of years ago.

"Kangaroos show a pattern of behavior very similar to what we have seen in dogs, horses and even goats when subjected to similar tests," McElligott pointed out.

From kangaroos, the team added to the idea that any organism with enough intelligence can learn to communicate between species.

“At first they thought it was a tamed trait, but we thought it was something animals could learn with the right environmental conditions. So in the zoological setting, where they are being held and always around people, we think they have learned to display this behavior, "Ms. Green said.

The study was conducted on a small scale, involving only 11 kangaroos from a variety of species, but Alan McElligott says this is the first of its kind to have been conducted in marsupial animals.

“Our research shows that animals’ potential for intentional communication is underestimated. The kangaroo is the first marsupial to be studied in this way and the positive results will lead to more cognitive research beyond conventional species, "he said.