Scientists finally decode the language of pigs – and they DON’T mince their words

SCIENTISTS say they have figured out the language of pigs — and the porkers don’t mince their words.

Boffins studied recordings of more than 7,000 grunts to work out what they meant.

They can match each sound to emotions such as being happy, excited, scared or stressed.

It is hoped the method can be turned into an app for farmers and owners to recognise how a pig feels.

Pigs are highly intelligent animals, with complex emotions, and are on par with dogs.

The researchers recorded the porkers’ sounds in various situations, such as being reunited with family, piglets suckling from mothers, fights between young and playing with toys.

Using the recordings, as well as monitoring the creatures’ behaviour and heart rate, the international team designed a computer algorithm to decode each action.

Short grunts signified happiness, while lots of vocalisations showed they were scared or upset — such as when they were in a slaughterhouse.

Dr Elodie Briefer, associate professor at the University of Copenhagen, said: “There are clear differences in pig calls when we look at positive and negative situations.

“By training an algorithm to recognise these sounds, we can classify 92 per cent of the calls to the correct emotion.”