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Researchers Figure Out How to Interpret Pig Grunts as Pig Emotions

The next step could be a pig translation app for farmers.

Amanda Kooser headshot
Amanda Kooser  
March 7, 2022 11:04 a.m. PT
Amanda Kooser headshot

Amanda Kooser

Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a
twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for
cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.

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pigs

These little pigs are snoozing.

Amanda Kooser/CNET

If you've heard one porcine grunt, you haven't heard them all.
There's a lot of communication happening through pig sounds, if you
know what to listen for. A team of researchers has come up with a
translator of sorts for pigs. It's a computer algorithm that
interprets all those different pig grunts as emotions.

Understanding animal emotions can help with improving animal welfare
and care. Animal behavior researcher Elodie Briefer of the University
of Copenhagen is the lead author of a study on the classification of
pig calls published in the journal Scientific Reports on Monday. 

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To build the equivalent of a grunts-emotions dictionary, the
researchers recorded over 7,400 sounds from 411 pigs, tracing their
life experiences from birth through death. The team correlated the
different calls with the pigs' activities and body language. 

The animals had positive emotions when nursing, reuniting with
family, cuddling with litter mates and running freely. Negative
emotions came from situations involving social isolation, fights,
castration and waiting in a slaughterhouse.

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"There are clear differences in pig calls when we look at positive
and negative situations. In the positive situations, the calls are
far shorter, with minor fluctuations in amplitude. Grunts, more
specifically, begin high and gradually go lower in frequency,"
Briefer said in a statement. "By training an algorithm to recognize
these sounds, we can classify 92% of the calls to the correct
emotion."

The study is part of the SoundWel project, which aims to
help professionals "monitor and improve pig welfare by minimizing
stress and encouraging positive emotions." Briefer said the next step
could involve developing the algorithm into an app for farmers.
Perhaps it could be called Instagrunt...

 
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