Mason et al Preprint_Goat Emotions, Cognition and Personality

Abstract

Positive welfare is a relatively modern concept based on the idea that on the whole, an animal’s positive experiences should outweigh their negative ones. Intuitively, we therefore require indicators to measure when animals are experiencing positive and negative emotional states, as well as providing opportunities for animals to create positive experiences. Goats typically live rich social and emotional lives, are naturally inquisitive, and seek cognitive challenges, highlighting the importance of a complex and cognitively stimulating environment for their welfare. However, all goats are different, underlining the shortcomings of a ‘one size fits all’ approach to provide the best welfare for each individual. In sum, to achieve positive welfare in goats we must have a means to monitor their emotional experiences, understand their cognitive abilities and provide sufficient opportunities to apply these and ensure welfare measures are tailored at an individual-level. This chapter will therefore focus on potential behavioural, physiological and cognitive indicators used to measure goat emotional states in the short- and long-term; their cognitive abilities in the physical and social domains; and the effect of personality on how goats interact with their social environment and on their cognitive abilities.