You may have heard that Pigs are one of the top most intelligent animals in the world and not many people are aware of it! It’s surprising for most people to know how amazing pigs can be, so we listed some impressive facts related to a pig’s cleverness.
Pigs recently ranked as the 4th smartest animal in the world
Scientists have been researching about pig intelligence many years ago but it was only until around the year 1990’s that a pig’s intelligence has been confirmed.
They were given with various tests and they’ve done several experiments and were surprised that one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented animals in the world are actually one of the smartest.
Many laboratories until today prefer to work with pigs as they easier to train, easier to deal with and can produce higher success rates than other animals.
Pigs are CLEAN and know how to stay clean
It must be confusing for some people who are misinformed about pigs to know that they are one of the cleanest animals too. It is but the truth and pigs are intelligent enough to stay clean if possible.
It is also exactly because of their intelligence that pig wallows around in
Since they are pretty clever, pigs roll around in much in order to cool off. They always have difficulties in adjusting their body temperature but rolling in mud helps pigs adjust a little.
Mud became their alternate option since most pigs do not have access to pools of water or any other body of water.
They are not picky therefore they’d go for mud when there is no water. But in fact, pigs would prefer water over mud.
In captivity, pigs also like to separate their toilet area apart from their living area because they do not want to soil their living place.
Pigs can also grow irritable if their pens are kept unclean which is also bad for their health.
Here are some not so common pig intelligence facts you may not have heard of.
1. Pigs have powerful memories
Pigs can remember their owners even after years of separation, as well as remembering up to 30 other animals at max. Who knows? Maybe pigs can remember more than that.
They are capable of holding grudges and holding gratitude.
Pigs will remember the face of their enemies or abusers for as long as they live. They may not act aggressive, but they will never forget.
A traumatized and abused pig would become run away at the sight of their abusers or turn numb.
On the other hand, pigs that are holding on to gratitude will always be faithful towards the person or animal they owe. They will show affectionate behavior and sometimes be protective too.
Pigs also remember places where they can find food, places where you hide food and dangerous places that they will avoid.
They can remember directions and even remember many commands that are taught to them.
2. Pigs learn many things faster than most animals
Many owners say that pigs can learn even faster than dogs just by doing the “treat rewarding method”. On the plus side, pigs are not picky. They are opportunistic which is why they know if they master a command, they can be rewarded.
They are also usually quiet and very docile which makes them easier to handle than other pets.
Some scientists even say that they can learn as a chimp does.
3. Pigs are aware of the passage of time
Although pigs cannot say it, they are clearly aware of the passage of time since they know when to rise and sleep. They are diurnal animals which mean they are more active during the day and go to sleep at night.
Despite the fact that many animals do this, it still adds up to the reason why pigs are one of the most intelligent animals in the world.
Some animals can go on for hours doing absolutely nothing, but not pigs.
Their awareness of time makes them vulnerable to boredom. They are naturally curious animals, thanks to their cleverness. Their curiosity urges to them to keep exploring and learning new things!
The more one is conscious about the passage of time, the more they tend to be active to keep boredom out of their systems.
4. Pigs are aware when a loved one or a companion passes away
Since pigs remember people and other animals, they know how to be attached to them and they know when they pass away.
When a loved one or a companion leaves, there will be visible or noticeable changes in a pig’s behavior that must be handled with delicate care.
Pigs also know when they get abandoned intentionally which can lead to aggressive behavior and losing trust towards people.
Their intelligence processes these situations for them and makes them understand what the meaning of “loss” is.
5. They know how to mourn and grieve to the point of crying real tears
They have a wide and deep emotional range thanks to their intelligence. It is said that the more intelligence someone is, the more they tend to feel things deeper because they think more than the average population.
The same thing can be said for pigs.
They are smart enough to know what pain is, they know what death is, they can feel sad and happy enough to affect them and it shows.
Pigs can smile out of happiness, wag their tail and be expressive. To express their sadness, they can cry to the point of crying real tears.
Though scientifically, producing tears is a mean to lubricate eyes. It is still possible that pigs cry emotionally the way humans do because they only do it during a sad moment in their life.
6. They are capable of being depressed because of their ability to understand things deeper than most animals
Apart from crying, their intelligence can lead them to fall into depression. The ability to understand the concept of death and loss can truly make anyone feel so sad to the point of being depressed.
Perhaps we can agree to the saying, “Ignorance is bliss”. If pigs were ignorant, they wouldn’t feel pain, sadness or probably not even happiness.
They can be emotionless creatures but that is not how they are made. They are born intelligent and will always respond to things with their emotions.
7. Pigs are also capable of being manipulative and dominant when they pinpoint the weakness of an animal or even a human
Depending on a pig’s breed, they can become manipulative and dominating when it comes to interacting with people and other animals.
A pig can learn how to take advantage of a human’s emotions. Let me provide some situational examples below.
Ex 1: When a pig does something bad and you laugh over it, they will think it is alright to repeat what they’ve done.
Ex 2: If you try to discipline a pig, depending on your method, they will find a way to counter you such as doing the “crime” behind your back.
Ex 3: They can be very sneaky and feel no remorse when they do bad things when no one is looking because they know they will not be caught.
Ex 4: Pigs can try to be “dominant” with little children because they tend to see kids as weak creatures unlike adults.
Ex 5: Pigs will also try to dominate adult humans by using their own means. It can be through emotional manipulation or physical behavior. If a human spoils a pig, it can be considered as domination.
Despite this, pigs are not bad animals by default and bad behavior can be fixed with proper disciplining.
8. Pigs can outsmart chimpanzees
There are specific studies involving pigs and chimpanzees that proved pigs can outsmart them.
One study was related to learning a specific game designed by scientists for both animals to play and see which one scores higher.
Note, they were not competing with each other directly, it was a game where they play individually.
In the end, the result surprised researchers when the pig scored higher than the chimp as the chimp decided they do not want to participate in such game.
This behavior can be perceived differently by other people. Some people perceive the chimps behavior as something like, “I am too smart to be obeying these researchers so I am quitting”.
It is debatable, but there is still no denying that the pig focused better and scored higher than the chimp which is one of the most intelligent animals we know.
Conclusion
Pigs are not as simple as we thought they should be. They know how to take advantage of their intelligence, their excellent sense of smell and their wonderful hearing.
They are natural foragers, know how to avoid danger as much as possible and know when to flee when they are at risk.
Pigs can sense grief from other animals or people and can even console them for comfort. Some pigs can serve as emotional support animals or therapy animals that can help reduce depression in some people.
Naturally, pigs are friendly, curious, opportunistic and docile animals and that is why they can make amazing pets. There is probably more to their intelligence than we already know and we hope to learn more about them in the future.
Related Questions
- Do pigs have self-awareness?
So far, scientists still haven’t confirmed whether pigs do have self-awareness or not.
However, several observations stated that pigs do exhibit some signs of self-recognition and reacts upon seeing their own reflection in the mirror.
The only tricky part for our scientists is if the pig knows it is them in the reflection or not.
There are times when a pig sees their reflection in the mirror and they will not flinch as if they are aware it is their own image.
But there are also times when a pig reacts completely different and goes around the mirror or tries to change positions to check if there was another pig nearby.
Whether pigs have self-awareness or not, it does not change the fact that they are still one of the brightest.
Pigs know what they want, develop their personal preferences, have individual personalities and know how to prioritize their survivability.
These facts alone are enough to support the theory of self-awareness among pigs.
- Can pigs learn their names?
Most of the time, yes. Pigs can learn their names as fast as they reach two to three weeks old. Despite their young age, they will know how to respond when called.
Some pigs can be slower in learning compared to another, but they will all learn in time and with patience.
My personal belief suggests that pigs may have different intelligence levels. Some pigs may have self-awareness and some may not which explains the different reactions from different pigs.
Just like people, not everyone is the same or moves at the same phase.
But also, who knows? Perhaps pigs are intentionally trying to confuse us because they are too intelligent to let us know!
Based on several studies, some studies suggest that pigs have the same intelligence level as a two year old child and they can probably understand some of the things we are telling them verbally.