A researcher from Italy has obtained a funding of 4 million euros from the EU for a study on the psychology of chickens and rhinoceros birds.

Maria Loconsole, an Italian researcher at the University of Padova, has won the Synergy grant from the European Research Council and received funding of 4 million euros to study the behavior and psychology of chickens and rhinoceros birds.

"We wondered what animals learn from their environment and how early this happens. The goal is to understand how early experiences, those that occur in the first days and weeks of life, influence their behavior, social cognition, ability to explore or remain conservative, and the tendency to trust or distrust their environment. I was born in a town, in Bari. I have no specific connections to farms or similar environments. But this profession forces you to see how refined animals are, how similar they are to humans in many respects. Once you discover their emotions, personalities, you can no longer ignore them." said researcher Maria Loconsole to Corriere Della Sera