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Sheep Senses, Social Cognition and Capacity for Consciousness

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The Welfare of Sheep

Part of the book series: Animal Welfare ((AWNS,volume 6))

Abstract

Sheep are generally held in low regard as far as cognition and social skills are concerned. However, there is now increasing evidence from studies of their behaviour and brain function that they have highly sophisticated social and emotional recognition skills using faces, voices and smells. They are able to recognize and remember many different sheep and humans for several years or more and appear to have some capacity for forming mental images of the faces of absent individuals. The presence of such social cognition abilities in this species means that we must pay careful attention to welfare factors such as the composition and stability of their social environment as well as the nature of our own interactions with them.

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  1. Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience, The Babraham Institute Babraham, Babraham, Cambridge, CB22 3AT, UK

    K.M. Kendrick

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Kendrick, K. (2008). Sheep Senses, Social Cognition and Capacity for Consciousness. In: The Welfare of Sheep. Animal Welfare, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8553-6_4

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