杏吧原创

IF YOU want to know whether a cow is stressed, look into its eyes.

Researchers at the Agricultural University of Norway in 脛s took 24 Norwegian red cattle and starved them for seven hours. Half the cows were then fed, while the others were shown food but not allowed to eat. Following this 鈥渇ood tease鈥�, the unfed cows understandably seemed unhappy. All showed at least one odd behaviour, such as tongue rolling and head shaking.

But the researchers will report in Applied Animal Behaviour Science that the unfed cows also opened their eyes wider, revealing more of the whites. The team suggest that wide eyes could serve as an indicator of stressed or maltreated cows.