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The New Coffee Room

  1. TNCR
  2. General Discussion
  3. The "Eye-Cow" Project

The "Eye-Cow" Project

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  • George KG Offline
    George KG Offline
    George K
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/08/study-confirms-that-painting-eyes-on-cow-butts-helps-ward-off-predators/

    Cattle herds in the Okavango delta region in Botswana are plagued by attacks by lions and other predators, prompting farmers to retaliate by killing the predators. An alternative nonlethal technique involves painting eyes on the butts of cattle to trick ambush predators like lions into thinking they've been spotted by their intended prey. It's called the "Eye-Cow Project," and a recent paper published in the journal Communications Biology provides some solid empirical evidence for the practice. There are now practical guides for using the "eye-cow" technique available in both English and Setswana, so farmers can try it out for themselves.

    Neil Jordan, a conservation biologist at the University of New South Wales in Australia, came up with the idea several years ago while he was doing field work in Botswana. Local farmers killed a pair of lionesses in retaliation for preying on their herds of cattle, and Jordan wanted to come up with a non-lethal alternative. The African lion population has dropped significantly from more than 100,000 in the 1990s to somewhere between 23,000 and 39,000 in 2016—much of it due to retaliation killings.

    Jordan knew that butterfly wings sporting eye-like patterns are known to ward off preying birds and are also found in certain fish, mollusks, amphibians and birds, although such patterns had not been observed in mammals. He also discovered that woodcutters in Indian forests have been known to wear masks on the backs of their heads to discourage any tigers hunting for prey. He had observed a lion stalking an impala and noticed the predator gave up the chase when the prey spotted it. Lions are ambush hunters, Jordan reasoned, and he decided to test his "detection hypothesis" that painting eyes on the butts of cows would discourage predatory behavior from the local lion population.

    alt text

    "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

    The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

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    • MikM Offline
      MikM Offline
      Mik
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      Hope it works. But then lions have to eat too.

      “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill

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      • taiwan_girlT Offline
        taiwan_girlT Offline
        taiwan_girl
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        I am with Mik. I hope it works. A low tech low cost "win win" type of solution.

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        • AxtremusA Offline
          AxtremusA Offline
          Axtremus
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          Will the fake eyes confuse the other cows and bulls too?

          MikM 1 Reply Last reply
          • AxtremusA Axtremus

            Will the fake eyes confuse the other cows and bulls too?

            MikM Offline
            MikM Offline
            Mik
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            @Axtremus said in The "Eye-Cow" Project:

            Will the fake eyes confuse the other cows and bulls too?

            Dammit! I can't do it while she's watching!"

            “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill

            George KG 1 Reply Last reply
            • MikM Mik

              @Axtremus said in The "Eye-Cow" Project:

              Will the fake eyes confuse the other cows and bulls too?

              Dammit! I can't do it while she's watching!"

              George KG Offline
              George KG Offline
              George K
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              @Mik said in The "Eye-Cow" Project:

              @Axtremus said in The "Eye-Cow" Project:

              Will the fake eyes confuse the other cows and bulls too?

              Dammit! I can't do it while she's watching!"

              Jerry Falwell's pool boy never said that...

              "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

              The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

              1 Reply Last reply
              • MikM Offline
                MikM Offline
                Mik
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                I guess Jerry never painted eyes on her ass.

                “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill

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