The growing scientific evidence for pig intelligence - including problem-solving, social learning, emotional states and play - has direct implications for how we understand and manage their welfare.
The scientific evidence for pig intelligence has profound welfare implications. Cognitive complexity means that barren, unstimulating environments cause not just physical boredom but genuine psychological impoverishment - a form of suffering that is less visible than physical injury but no less real. Pigs with pessimistic cognitive biases - the animal equivalent of depression - suffer emotionally, not just physically. Their capacity for social learning means that good welfare practices, once demonstrated by experienced animals, can spread through groups. Understanding pig intelligence transforms welfare management from preventing physical harm to genuinely supporting psychological flourishing.