Giraffes Can Perform Mental Math to Locate Scattered Food Sources

Giraffes possess a remarkable talent for mental mathematics that sets them apart on the African savanna. A new study reveals these towering animals can perform simple addition and subtraction with impressive accuracy. Researchers discovered the creatures could mentally combine two quantities to determine which option held more food. This cognitive ability is comparable to a human solving basic arithmetic problems. Such skills suggest a foundation for even more complex mathematical thinking in the future.

These advanced mental tools likely evolved to help giraffes survive harsh climates and social pressures. Giraffes live in fluid communities that constantly split and regroup based on environmental shifts. Their primary food source, acacia trees, is scattered widely across the vast landscape. Co-author Iker Loidi, a PhD student at the University of Barcelona, explained the necessity of these skills. He stated this process encourages the animal to estimate where and when resources are available. This estimation helps them optimize their foraging decisions in a changing world.

The research team worked with four adult giraffes housed at the Barcelona Zoo. Scientists trained the animals to perform basic sums during controlled experiments. The published study appeared in the journal Scientific Reports. During each trial, researchers presented the giraffe with two yellow containers. Each container held a specific number of carrots inside. After a few seconds, the containers were closed securely.

Next, the researchers introduced a green container filled with additional carrots. They added these carrots to one of the yellow boxes without revealing the new total. Alternatively, they showed an empty green container and removed carrots from a yellow box to demonstrate subtraction. The giraffe's task was to choose the container with the greatest amount of food. The animal had to mentally add or subtract the quantities it had previously observed. This experiment proved giraffes can track numbers effectively even when the food is hidden from view.

During the experiment, researchers presented the animals with a second green container holding a specific amount of food that had been added to one of the original boxes. The critical element was that once the manipulation was complete, the giraffes were not allowed to see the quantities again; they were forced to rely entirely on their memory to track the numbers. Mr Loidi explained the necessity of this constraint, stating, 'If this information were available to the giraffes, we could not conclude that the subjects are performing mental operations, as they might base their choice solely on the perceptual information available after the manipulation.'

Despite these strict conditions, two of the giraffes consistently identified which box now held the most carrots. This success demonstrates that the animals can remember observed quantities, mentally update that data after changes occur, and base decisions on that internal calculation. However, their mathematical prowess has limits. When tested on subtraction or 'sequential operations'—such as removing food from one option and adding it to another—none of the giraffes could keep track. Mr Loidi noted, 'These results are consistent with what we observe in humans: there are individual differences in numerical problem-solving and, in general, subtraction is more difficult than addition.' He added that subtraction engages brain areas dedicated to complex, controlled processing, which simple addition does not.

Consequently, while two of the four giraffes solved the addition tasks with ease, the subtraction challenges proved significantly harder. Nevertheless, these findings indicate that giraffes possess mathematical abilities far more advanced than previously anticipated. This is not the first instance where scientists have discovered numerical skills in unexpected animals. Research has shown that chimpanzees and African grey parrots can solve sums using Arabic numerals, reaching totals of four and eight, respectively. Other species, including crows, pigeons, monkeys, and even certain fish, have demonstrated the ability to perform simple addition.

The scope of animal math even extends to insects; studies have shown that bees can be taught to solve basic math problems. Scientists from RMIT University in Australia successfully trained 14 bees to add or subtract one from various numbers, achieving correct answers up to 72 per cent of the time. Dr Álvaro López Caicoya, a co-author of the study from the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology, told the Daily Mail, 'This study builds upon a broader research program where we have previously demonstrated that giraffes possess an array of cognitive abilities, including object permanence, quantity discrimination, and the capacity to make statistical inferences.' He concluded that 'altogether, this contributes to the growing evidence that complex cognitive and quantitative skills are not exclusive to primates, but may emerge in other species in response to their own socio-ecological demands.