How piggy in the middle makes peace when things go hog wild
PIGGIES really do get in the middle, with scientists reporting the animals act as peacemakers by intervening in fights.
Pigs also show reconciliatory behaviour after spats, rubbing noses, sitting close together and resting heads on each other to demonstrate that all is forgiven, the researchers discovered.
A study at the University of Turin in Italy shows the behaviour demonstrates that pigs form complex social groups, and may possess emotional awareness like humans.
In the journal Animal Cognition, Dr Giada Cordoni, an evolutionary biologist, said: “Domestic pigs are able to adopt an array of post-confict strategies.”
The team recorded footage of 104 pigs at a woodland farm between June and November 2018. The group consisted of different breeds, with only some animals related to one another.
Ivan Norscia, an associate professor,
said: “Typically the pigs fight over naturally occurring food items in the grassland-woodland habitats where they live, or over a wanted resource, such as a muddy spot, shadow, or a place next to another individual.”
The team recorded 216 fights, and discovered that when two are fighting, a bystander animal will often intervene to reduce the number of attacks or comfort the victim. When a third-party pig sidled over to the victim, there was a drop in anxiety-related behaviours, such as shaking, scratching, chewing with an empty mouth and yawning.
However, if a bystander approached the aggressor, the number of aggressive behaviour attacks directed towards the victim was significantly reduced.
Pigs were also more likely to defuse tensions if they were related. However the team also found that fighting pigs were less likely to show conciliatory behaviour if they were close family. More estranged pigs went out of their way to make peace after a fight.
Scientists believe pigs inherently understand the importance of maintaining group harmony to keep access to support and food, and so seek to restore calm soon after a squabble.
However, because the bonds are naturally stronger between related animals, they do not feel the need to make such an effort to rebuild bridges.