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Kangaroos can communicate with humans, according to a new study. The report is the first research of this kind to be done on marsupials — a type of mammal whose young get carried in pouches (育儿袋) on their mother’s body. It suggests kangaroos are cleverer than previously thought.

Researchers from the University of Roehampton in the UK and the University of Sydney in Australia tested kangaroos at three locations — the Australian Reptile Park, Wildlife Sydney Zoo and Kangaroo Protection Co-operative. The scientists put food in a box that the kangaroos could not open, and waited to see what the animals would do.

Rather than giving up, 10 out of the 11 kangaroos actively looked at the person who had put the food in the box and then looked at the box. The researchers said this could be interpreted as the kangaroos requesting help to open the container.

Dr Alexandra Green, a co-author of the study, told The Guardian newspaper that some of the kangaroos actually approached the person and started scratching and sniffing them, then looked back at the box. “So they were really trying to communicate,” Green said.

This behaviour is not uncommon in animals. However, it is usually only seen in domesticated animals. Domesticated means animals that have been bred (饲养) to live alongside people, such as pets or farm animals. The lead author of the study, Dr Alan McElligott, explained, “Through this study, we were able to see that communication between animals can be learnt and that the behaviour of looking at humans to access food is not related to domestication.”

“Indeed, kangaroos showed a very similar pattern of behaviour we have seen in dogs, horses and even goats, when put to the same test,” he added.

It is hoped that the study will give people a more positive attitude towards kangaroos, which are sometimes seen as pests that damage farmers’ crops.