king of beasts onrush on farm animal can end badly for all company involved . If a farmer spots a piranha in the act , one of the only ways to cease it is with a hitman . Some experts think that such cases of retaliatory kill airs agreater threatto lions than poaching . Researchers at theUniversity of New South Walesare now hoping to dissuade lions from going in for the killing by painting pairs of faux eyes onto the butts of cow .
Neil Jordan , a conservation biologist at UNSW ’s Center for Ecosystem Science , got the thought for his experiment after find a lion on the hunt in Botswana . It was stalking an impala when the fair game perked its nous up . The lion then realized it had been noticed and retreated . This dumbfound Jordan wondering if there was way to commandeer this phenomenon to trick Panthera leo into thinking they had been spotted even when they had n’t .
He joined forces with the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust ( BPCT ) and a local farmer last twelvemonth to put his theory to the run . After paint eyes onto the rearward ends of one - third of a herd of 62 cattle ( a method Jordan dubbed “ iCow ” ) , they let the cows act as usual then calculate them at the oddment of each 24-hour interval to see which group had a higher endurance charge per unit . Three cows were kill over the course of 10 week , none of which belong to the painted nates caboodle .
The sample distribution size was too minuscule to say whether the second pair of center is what protected the oxen or if they just hold up by hazard . Jordan is return to Botswana in mid - July to test the putz further over three calendar month , this time using GPS devices to monitor cow - lion interaction . Even if he does see standardized results , that wo n’t necessarily mean that the painted - on eyes are a fool - trial impression method for keep away predators ; king of beasts have other mode of jazz when it ’s fourth dimension to pounce . But in a region where lion attacks on Bos taurus are disastrous for both farmers and lion populations , painting a few moo-cow butts certainly does n’t offend .
[ h / tUNSW ]
All icon courtesy of Ben Yexly / UNSW
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