Intelligence of the big cats...

[Shadow]

(12-30-2018, 12:55 AM)Amnon242 Wrote:

(12-29-2018, 05:31 PM)Shadow Wrote: Animal intelligence is of course interesting issue, I think that everyone are interested about it in some level. Same thing as with so many other features, who runs fastest, who jumps longest, who is strongest.... people are always interested and why not, nothing bad to be curious :) For hunters it has been quite important to know/understand many of these things in past. I mean especially in times when hunting was essential for surviving and also of course to know, how to be not hunted by predators.

So I don´t see anything wrong in this kind of curiosity as long as people can maintain objectivity and behave with manners while discussing. Everyone have some favorite animals, but sometimes results can show things which are not what wanting to see. There is always discussions and opinions, but  there is also research and testing like now here was in this study by Borrago and Gaines. It is ok to point out some issues which feel questionable, but there is other side of coin too. Even though there were smaller groups of leopards and tigers tested, it doesn´t change the fact, that lions did good. Their results were such, that not easy to do better, at least not significantly, if other results give even a hint what comes to leopards and tigers. 

For me particularly innovation and persistence tests are very interesting, many people are familiar with that fact, that some animals learn to open doors and many other things. So this kind of information about animals has many times also real meaning in some things. Like how a dog can sit on something what you are looking for if it happens to like it too. So you might try to find something and dog just sits there and is waiting, that you leave the room :) Never trust to them!!!!   There has been research and tests where that kind of behavior has been observed in dogs :) 

That Vonk - Leese study was also interesting. It is good to have original reports so, that everyone can read themselves too instead of some short quotes. Quotes are good when original document is there too to check things, but if only some quotes, many times something relevant is missing. If someone knows more of these studies and where original documents can be found at least I am interested to see and read those. No matter what animals has best results :)

Btw, those birds in some tests, just astonishing, really.

Imagine 2 people: Mr. A and Mr. B., colleagues at work. You give them you give them a puzzle to solve. Mr. A did it better. But their boss says that he considers Mr. B to be more intelligent. 

Not easy to decide which one is smarter...

That is why I respect research by scientists, who can be considered to be quite objective. Also telling what they are testing and what kind of conclusions they are making and why. Something else than debates between "fanboy armies" Reply