Thought Leader Profile
Con Slobodchikoff
CEO, Zoolingua & Animal Communications Ltd.
Con Slobodchikoff is CEO of Zoolingua and Animal Communications Ltd., director of the Animal Language Institute, and author of Chasing Doctor Dolittle: Learning the Language of Animals. An expert at decoding animal language using innovative experimental and analytical techniques, Con has shown that prairie dogs have a sophisticated animal language, having all of the design features of human languages. He and Zoolingua are working on developing a pet translator, starting with dogs. This will allow people to understand what dogs are trying to communicate to them and will have profound implications for how we can utilize and relate to the intelligence of animals.
Con has been featured in a variety of articles and interviews, including magazines such as Smithsonian magazine, National Geographic, Discover Magazine, People magazine, Reader's Digest, and Boy's Life; radio interviews including "Radiolab," NPR's "All Things Considered," and NPR Flagstaff, Phoenix, Santa Fe, Idaho, and Colorado; on television on NBC Dateline, ABC World News with Peter Jennings, CNN, Country Canada, Quantum (Australia), Tierzeit (Belgian-German TV), Turner Broadcasting, and Brixen Productions (Discovery Channel); and in newspapers including the LA Times, the Boston Globe, the Denver Post, the Arizona Republic, Arizona Daily Sun, Arizona Daily Star, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. A joint production by BBC and Animal Planet did a one-hour documentary of his work, shown in 2010 by BBC TV in Europe and in 2011 on Animal Planet as part of the Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom series.
Con has written or co-written some 100 scientific papers and popular articles on animal language, animal behavior, and evolution and has written or edited four books on these topics. He also writes or co-writes the Reconnect with Nature Blog, the Dog Behavior Blog, and the Dr Con page on Facebook. You can visit his website at www.conslobodchikoff.com.
Con has a BS degree and a PhD degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Speaker at FiRe 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018
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News for Con Slobodchikoff
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Posted on Fri Jan 17, 2025, 8:00 am
Do animals talk to us? - RNZ -
Posted on Fri Jan 17, 2025, 8:00 am
Do our pets talk to us? - RNZ -
Posted on Fri May 17, 2024, 7:00 am
The Surprising Complexity of Prairie Dog Language - Atlas Obscura -
Posted on Thu Jun 2, 2022, 1:17 pm
New Research Could Help Create Device to Decipher Animal Communication - One ... -
Posted on Mon May 30, 2022, 7:00 am
Speaking dog: Technology could lead to device that can decipher animal commun... -
Posted on Thu Oct 14, 2021, 6:42 pm
Con Slobodchikoff - Arizona Highways -
Posted on Fri Feb 9, 2018, 8:00 am
If animals could talk: Former NAU professor works on dog translation device -... -
Posted on Fri Jan 19, 2018, 8:00 am
Dogs can't speak human. Here's the tech that could change that. - NBC News -
Posted on Mon Jan 15, 2018, 8:00 am
Pet language translator in development by scientists - KGUN 9 -
Posted on Mon Jan 15, 2018, 8:00 am
Pet translator might enable humans to communicate with animals - ZME Science -
Posted on Tue Jul 25, 2017, 7:00 am
About robotic sex dolls & gadgets to help people talk to their dogs: - Animal... -
Posted on Wed May 17, 2017, 7:00 am
Dogs Communicate, So Do Prairie Dogs – So? - Evolution News -
Posted on Sun May 14, 2017, 7:00 am
Dr. Con Slobodchikoff argues we can talk with these language-bearing rodents ... -
Posted on Fri May 12, 2017, 7:00 am
Can Prairie Dogs Talk? (Published 2017) - The New York Times -
Posted on Wed May 10, 2017, 7:00 am
In a prairie dog colony, the power dynamics of modern America - High Country ... -
Posted on Fri Dec 25, 2015, 8:00 am
Why These Scaredy Cats Are Absolutely Terrified of Cucumbers - ABC News -
Posted on Fri Jun 21, 2013, 7:00 am
Prairie dogs' language decoded by scientists - CBC -
Posted on Wed Jun 5, 2013, 7:00 am
Slobodchikoff on the imminence of cross-species chit-chatter - Improbable Res... -
Posted on Tue Jun 4, 2013, 7:00 am
Animal Behaviorist: We'll Soon Have Devices That Let Us Talk With Our Pets - ... -
Posted on Fri Dec 28, 2012, 8:00 am
“Chasing Doctor Dolittle” by Con Slobodchikoff - The Washington Post