Tiger poo is an effective new weapon in warding off animal pests, scientists said Wednesday, after years of experimenting with big cats’ feces collected from Australian zoos.
A team from the University of Queensland made the discovery as they researched non-lethal ways to keep herbi-vores, such as goats and kangaroos, away from certain plants, Associate Professor Peter Murray said.
While such repellents are typically based on offensive smells like rotten eggs, blood or bone, using tiger poo came from the idea that “if you can smell a predator nearby you would probably want to go somewhere else,” he said.
Photo: AFP 照片:法新社
Murray and his team, who have worked on the project for eight years, conducted tests on goats in a small paddock, placing the feces taken from local zoos near a feeding trough and monitoring events with a video camera.
They found big cats’ feces a more effective deterrent than those of other predators.
“The goats really didn’t like it. They wouldn’t go near the trough,” Murray told AFP. He said old goat carcasses also proved effective in warding off goats, but the smell was so bad that it made the scientists feel sick.
Photo: EPA 照片:歐新社
The researchers also found that the feces worked best as a deterrent when the tiger had been fed the animal being targeted.
“There’s not only a chemical signal in the feces that says ‘Hooley dooley, this is a dangerous animal’, it’s ‘Hooley dooley, this is a dangerous animal that’s been eating my friends’,” Murray explained.
The scientist said a number of species showed similar reactions to the feces, and he believed that with more funding, a synthetic tiger poo smell could be developed and potentially turned into a commercial product.
(AFP)
多年來針對澳洲動物園大型貓科動物糞便做實驗的科學家週三表示,老虎屎是驅避(對某些植物)有害蟲獸的一項新武器。
副教授彼得‧穆瑞說,「昆士蘭大學一個團隊的這項新發現,是用非致命的方式驅離像是山羊、袋鼠等草食性動物。」
他說,一般慣用的是臭雞蛋、血液或骨頭等具有強烈氣味的元素製成驅避劑,而使用老虎屎是從「若你聞到附近掠食性動物的氣味,你可能會想要到其他地方去」的觀點而來。
穆瑞與進行此計畫八年的團隊,在一個小牧場內對山羊進行試驗,將從當地動物園取得的糞便放置在餵養槽附近,並以攝影機全程監視。
他們發現,大型貓科動物的糞便當作遏止物比其他的掠食性動物的糞便更有效。
穆瑞告訴法新社說,「山羊真的不喜歡它。他們不願靠近餵食槽。」他說,老山羊的屍體也能驅離山羊,不過這個臭味使得科學家們難耐想吐。
科學家也發現特別是吃過要驅避動物的老虎屎,其驅避效果最佳。
穆瑞解釋說,「糞便不僅傳遞化學信號(讓驅避動物)說,『我的媽呀,這是個危險的動物』且『哇,這是隻已經吃下我朋友的危險動物。』」
科學家說有一些物種也出現類似的反應,且他相信在更多經費注入後,可能研發出合成的老虎屎氣味,並且有潛力改良成為一種商品。
(法新社/翻譯:林亞蒂)
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that an outbreak of mpox, a viral infection that spreads through close contact, represents a global health emergency for the second time in two years. WHAT IS MPOX? Mpox is a viral infection that causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, and while usually mild, it can kill. Children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV, are all at higher risk of complications. The WHO declared the recent outbreak of the disease a public health emergency after a new offshoot of the mpox virus, first identified in Democratic Republic of Congo,
COVID-19 簡介: 嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎 (COVID-19) 疫情爆發以來,冠狀病毒 (coronavirus) 成為熱門討論話題。我們利用這機會來了解病毒(virus) 的定義,以及它與細菌 (bacterium) 之間的不同。 和多數為單細胞生物的細菌不一樣,病毒甚至連細胞都不是,是由蛋白質 (protein) 形成的外殼包裹的一段 DNA 或 RNA,是一種類生物,介於生命體及非生命體之間。病毒無法獨立生長,但能感染大部分具細胞結構的生命體,它存活的方式是藉由感染宿主的細胞,再利用它們來自我複製。其形態有螺旋形、二十面體、包膜型等等。冠狀病毒就是因外表有許多突起,看起來像皇冠而得名。 病毒顆粒只有約細菌的百分之一。細菌等病原體無法通過尚柏朗過濾器 (Chamberland filter),但病毒卻可以。因此,1899年,荷蘭微生物學家貝傑林克(Beijerinck) 將這類物質命名為濾過性病毒 (filterable virus)。Merriam-Webster 對 virus 的定義是: any of a large group of submicroscopic infectious agents (超顯微傳染媒介物) that are usually regarded as nonliving extremely complex molecules (複分子), that typically contain a protein coat (蛋白質外殼) surrounding an RNA or DNA core of genetic material but no semipermeable membrane (無半透膜), that are capable of growth and multiplication only in living cells, and that cause various important diseases in humans, animals, and plants 病毒學 (virology),是微生物學 (microbiology) 底下的一個分支,迄今人類已鑑定出超過 6000 種病毒。病毒的傳播方式非常多樣,流感 (flu) 病毒可以經由咳嗽和打噴嚏傳播;諾羅病毒 (Norovirus) 可以通過手、食物和水來傳播;愛滋病毒 (HIV) 則可以通過體液接觸傳播;登革熱 (Dengue fever) 通過蚊蟲叮咬傳播。攜帶病毒的生物載體,如蚊子,稱為 vector (病媒),非生物載體如:水、空氣,稱為vehicle。在通常情況下,病毒感染會引發免疫反應來消滅入侵的病毒。而免疫反應可透過注射疫苗來產生,使接種者能夠對相應的病毒免疫。 抗生素對病毒沒作用,但有些抗病毒藥物已經研發出來,例如克流感
In 2024, the torch won’t have to leave Europe after it is lit in Olympia, Greece. The 2024 Summer Olympics will begin in Paris, France, on July 26, marking exactly a century since Paris last hosted the Olympic Games in 1924. This year’s opening ceremony promises to be a true spectacle: National teams will parade on boats down the Seine River. The Olympic torch will be carried along the river until it reaches the Trocadeoro Gardens, which is across from the Eiffel Tower on the opposite side of the river. Tens of thousands of spectators are expected to line the
Consider this scenario: an individual has suffered severe chronic heart failure and desperately needs a heart transplant to survive. In some countries, there’s a ray of hope for such an individual, but in Taiwan, the outlook appears gloomier. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan saw organ donations from a mere 396 people in 2020, translating as roughly 17 donors per million population (pmp), a rate considerably lower than that of many developed nations. Organ donation is a vital and often life-saving medical procedure in which organs from a donor, living or deceased, are legally transferred to a recipient in