Just like humans, animals too make choices based on their emotions

Washington, August 4 (ANI): Just like humans, animals too make choices based on their emotional states, says a new study.

Bristol University's Professor Mike Mendl and Dr Liz Paul and Lincoln University's Dr Oliver Burman conducted the study.

An animal in surroundings threatened by predators feels anxious, whereas one in an environment with plenty of opportunities to acquire resources for survival will be in a more positive mood state.

These emotional states help it decide choices in ambiguous situations, which could have good or bad outcomes.

"Because we can measure animal choices objectively, we can use 'optimistic' and 'pessimistic' decision-making as an indicator of the animal's emotional state which itself is much more difficult to assess," said Mendl.

"Public interest in animal welfare remains high, with widespread implications for the way in which animals are treated, used and included in society.

"We believe our approach could help us to better understand and assess an animal's emotion," he added.

The study is published online in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. (ANI)