Pigs Prove to Be Smart, if Not Vain

Pigs Prove to Be Smart, if Not Vain 

 The 8th and final session of the Class of Nonviolence is about  violence and animals. This article from the New York Times covers the new scientific field of "pig cognition." It says in part:

"Even in domesticity, pigs have retained much of their foreboar’s smarts. Dr. Byrne attributes pig intelligence to the same evolutionary pressures that prompted cleverness in primates: social life and food. Wild pigs live in long-term social groups, keeping track of one another as individuals, the better to protect against predation. They also root around for difficult food sources, requiring a dexterity of the snout not unlike the handiness of a monkey." [whole article]

Looking for more about animals? Some good stuff in the New Yorker: 

Hear Them Roar: A brief about Spain granting some apes human rights and a roundup of current books about animal rights.
Swingers: Bonobos are celebrated as peace-loving, matriarchal, and sexually liberated. Are they? 
Birdbrain: The woman behind the world’s chattiest parrots.

 Here's one from Wired Science: Clever Crows Prove Aesop’s Fable Is More Than Fiction
If the crow story interests you, here is a TED video about "The Amazing Intelligence of Crows" with Joshua Klein: