Sure, your mutt Milo still totally owns the title of man’s best friend, but a new study published in Biology Letters recently found that goats are actually on a similar domestication track to dogs.
To reach this conclusion, researchers at Queen Mary University in London did an experiment in which they presented goats with a box that was pretty much impossible to open but definitely contained a treat inside. When the goats got frustrated, they did as dogs do: Gazed longingly at the nearest human as if to say, “Hello? A little help?” (You can watch their behavior in action here.)
Compare this with the results of similar experiments done with a variety of animals, like cats and wolves. Cats ignore humans when presented with a challenging task and wolves just keep going at it, determined to get the treat.
Which means? You could be cuddling your very own pet goat in the future. Fingers crossed.
