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Sheepish facial recognition: Sheep can recognise Barack Obama, Emma Watson from photographs

A new study shows that sheep have the ability to recognise human faces from photographs on computer screens.

|Nov 09, 2017, 13:08:54 IST

London: A new study shows that sheep have the ability to recognise human faces from photographs on computer screens.The Cambridge University study published on Wednesday also shows that sheep can recognise the faces of their human handlers without any prior training.[caption id="attachment_4201129" align="alignleft" width="380"]

File image of a sheep recognising former US president Barack Obama. AP[/caption]It had been known that sheep can recognise familiar faces of other sheep and of humans. The researchers say this study of the ability of sheep to recognise faces may be useful in research into Huntington's disease and other human brain disorders that affect mental processing.Lead scientist Professor Jenny Morton says sheep have advanced face-recognition abilities comparable to those of humans and monkeys.Among the faces they were trained to recognise were Barack Obama and Harry Potter actress Emma Watson.The research was published in Royal Society: Open Science.

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