Animal Intelligence

What if human intelligence is actually more of a liability than a gift? After all, the animal kingdom, in all its diversity, gets by just fine without it. At first glance, human history is full of remarkable feats of intelligence, yet human exceptionalism can be a double-edged sword. With our unique cognitive prowess comes severe consequences, including existential angst, violence, discrimination and the creation of a world teetering towards climate catastrophe. What if human exceptionalism is more of a curse than a blessing?

Les éléphants bénéficient d'une impressionnante mémoire spatiale, olfactive, visuelle et vocale, on le sait, mais sait-on que certains oiseaux peuvent cacher leur nourriture dans plus de mille emplacements différents ? Dans ce livre audio riche d'une quinzaine d'années d'expérience de terrain, Emmanuelle Pouydebat montre que l'intelligence est une fonction adaptative partagée par tous les animaux.

Frans de Waal, psychologue et primatologue mondialement reconnu, nous amène à réexaminer tout ce que nous croyions savoir sur l'intelligence animale - et humaine.

Recent years have seen rapid advances in 'artificial' intelligence, which increasingly appears to be something stranger than we ever imagined. At the same time, we are becoming more aware of the other intelligences which have been with us all along, unrecognised. These other beings are the animals, plants and natural systems that surround us, and are slowly revealing their complexity and knowledge - just as the new technologies we've built are threatening to cause their extinction, and ours.

As Charles Darwin suggested more than a century ago, the differences between animals and humans are of degree and not of kind. Not long ago, ethologists denied that animals had emotions or true intelligence. Now, we know that rats laugh when tickled, magpies mourn as they cover the departed with greenery, female whales travel thousands of miles for annual reunions with their gal pals, seals navigate by the stars, bears hum when happy, and crows slide down snowy rooftops for fun.

A squirrel in the garden. A rat in the wall. A pigeon on the street. Humans have spent so much of our history drawing a hard line between human spaces and wild places. When animals pop up where we don’t expect or want them, we respond with fear, rage, or simple annoyance. It’s no longer an animal. It’s a pest. At the intersection of science, history, and narrative journalism, Pests is not a simple call to look closer at our urban ecosystem. It’s not a natural history of the animals we hate. Instead, this book is about us.

Special Agent Felix Whiter always gets his man...or tortoise. Or does he? Sometimes the tortoise gives him the slip, and sometimes the real villain is.... Oh, but that would be telling. A very silly spy thriller for kids, with plenty of giggles for adults too. For Cats' Eyes Only is packed with excitement, danger, terrible puns, and fart humor. Educational allergy advice. This is intended to be a purely fun story.

Once upon a time, there was a dense forest situated near the hill. That forest was the home of many big and small animals and birds. A brutal lion was the king of that forest, and he lived in his den at the hilltop. The lion had long hairs, and a big and strong body with sharp teeth and claws. The lion was very arrogant, cruel, and powerful. There was not even a single animal in the jungle had the courage to even pass somewhere near the lion's den. Whenever the lion was out hunting, he not only used to hunt his prey, but unnecessarily kill other animals for fun.

Si les animaux ne peuvent nous parler, les récentes recherches démontrent qu’ils ont tout de même une activité mentale intense. En fait, l’animal a des habiletés cognitives qui lui permettent de s’adapter et de s’ajuster à l’univers unique dans lequel il vit. Et c’est en tentant de comprendre l’intelligence propre à chaque espèce que nous pourrons arriver à vraiment aimer et respecter les animaux qui nous entourent. 

Imagine raising an orphaned bear cub, carefully reintroducing her to the wild, then being welcomed back, almost daily, to observe her wild world for more than 17 years. Imagine visiting her in her feeding spots, watching her with her mates and her young, peering into her den, and, over time, observing the lives of all the other wild bears in her territory and surrounding ones. That is what happened to Ben Kilham.

On his first day of holiday camp, a little boy arrives with his bird best friend perched proudly on his shoulder, but he soon discovers that he is different from everyone else - no one else has a bird. He hides Rayf away to try and fit in, but it's hard to pretend to be someone else for long.