Web Desk: A new scientific study has revealed that giraffes possess more than just their distinctive long necks and towering height—they also have the ability to understand basic numerical concepts and estimate quantities.

According to international media reports, researchers in Spain conducted experiments on giraffes living in several zoos to examine their cognitive abilities. The study was carried out jointly by scientists from the University of Barcelona, Leipzig University, and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

During the experiment, four giraffes at Barcelona Zoo were shown two separate containers holding different numbers of carrot pieces before the containers were covered. The animals watched as researchers either added or removed carrots from the containers.

When given the opportunity to choose, the giraffes selected the container with the larger quantity of carrots in nearly 68 percent of the trials. Researchers said the results suggest the animals can recognize changes in quantity and use that information to make decisions rather than choosing at random.

Scientists also tested whether the giraffes were relying on human gestures, such as touching a particular container, when making their choices. The findings showed that two of the four giraffes may have been influenced by these cues, while the other two consistently selected the container with more carrots, indicating the use of more advanced cognitive processing.

The researchers further observed that the giraffes' performance declined when the difference in the number of carrots became smaller, with their choices becoming much closer to random.

According to the research team, giraffes do not perform mathematics in the human sense, but they do appear to possess a basic understanding of numbers and quantity. This ability could play an important role in everyday decisions, particularly when searching for food in the wild.