Every once in a while, researchers come up with the most outrageously ingenious ideas that prove once and for all that imagination is just as important as intelligence when it comes to science. These are the types of ideas you’d more often see in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland than in real life. Or at least that’s what you’d expect.
Scientists conducted a study showing that there’s a far better way to protect cows from pesky biting flies than using pesticides. That method involves painting the cows with zebra-like stripes, which help camouflage the animals from annoying pests. Researchers tested their theories on 6 Japanese Black cows by either painting zebra-like stripes (black-and-white, see cow ‘a’), painting only black stripes (cow ‘b’) or leaving the dark fur unpainted (cow ‘c’). By liberally applying paint, scientists have effectively created a temporary zebra-cow hybrid (a zow or a cowbra if you’ll permit me) that lives a far happier life thanks to not being bitten countless times each day. The cows are happy. The farmers are happy. And the flies are miserable. It’s _mootastic_ all ‘round.
Dear Pandas, after you’re done with this post, check out Bored Panda’s previous article about a baby zebra that was born with white spots instead of stripes. I’m sure you’ll love it.
More info: Public Library of Science (PLOS)
a.
Image credits: plos.org
b.
Image credits: plos.org
c.
Image credits: plos.org
According to the Japanese researchers who conducted the striped-cow study, their findings are important because they show that pesticides are not as effective at keeping away pests as painting stripes on cows’ fur with non-toxic materials. It’s cheaper. It’s healthier. It’s environmentally friendly. What’s not to like?
Scientists painted Japanese Black cows with black-and-white stripes to make them look like zebras
Image credits: plos.org
Scientists recorded how often the moo-moos would repel biting flies and determined that zebra-stripes “significantly” lowered the number of pest attacks. Thus, we have available an alternate way of protecting our bovine buddies from aggressive flies that doesn’t require spraying everything in sight with pesticides.
The study showed that zebra-like black-and-white stripes were significantly better at deterring flies than just black stripes or no stripes at all
Image credits: plos.org
Image credits: plos.org
There are several main theories about what black-and-white zebra stripes do. For example, some scientists believe that the stripes help zebras hide from flies and other pests, while others think that the stripes work as camouflage and help the animals remain unnoticed by some predators. However, a third theory is that the stripes are, in fact, a natural cooling system that helps zebras stay fresh in the searing African heat.
So, dear Readers, what do you think of the zebra-like stripe study? Would you like to see more zebra-striped cows wandering the fields in the future? What do you think is the main purpose of a zebra’s stripes? Share your insights with everyone in the comment section below.
This is how people reacted online after reading the study
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