Australian scientists are working to artificially produce the urine of wild dogs, hoping to keep other wild dogs away from humans and prevent them from destroying livestock, avoiding losses that mount into millions of dollars every year.
Researchers say the chemical message in the urine of dingoes, as the wild dogs are known, insists “this is my territory, stay out” — creating a “bio boundary” that the dogs and other wild animals cannot cross.
“We hope it would be a non-lethal tool for the management of dingoes in Australia,” said Alan Robley, senior research scientist at the Department of Sustainability and Environment, a government-funded research institute.
Photo courtesy of Henry Whitehead
照片由亨利‧懷特黑德提供
“You can use this non-lethal barrier to keep animals out of where people don’t want them — in their back yards or those sort of urban areas where towns are encroaching into the bush [wilderness], or on a farm where there are sheep and where dogs are coming in and attacking their sheep.”
Animals use chemical messages all the time to advertise their social status, whether or not they are sexually available and ready for reproduction, and things about their food. The messages come through the chemicals they excrete.
Scientists collect urine from captive dingoes — male and female, adults and juveniles — held in private collections around Australia. The urine is then sent to a laboratory where they can extract the molecular signature of the different chemicals that make up the urine.
“That analysis tells us how strong each of those chemicals are,” Robley said.
The chemicals are reproduced and presented back to the animals under test conditions to see how they respond.
It is believed that wild dogs cause roughly A$64 million (about NT$1.94 billion) in damage to livestock throughout Australia each year, A$18 million (about NT$545 million) in southern Victoria state alone.
“There’s a bit of work being done in Botswana on African wild dogs which is very similar to this, but no one’s tried to extract and identify the constituent chemical compounds of wild dogs or dingo urine before and use that in a management sense,” Robley said.
(Reuters)
澳洲科學家正試圖以人工方式,製造野狗尿液,希望藉此驅趕其他野狗靠近人類、防止牠們侵害家畜,並且避免每年高達上百萬元的損失。
研究員表示,澳洲犬尿液裡的化學信號,堅稱「這是我的地盤,勿近」─產生一個「生物界線」,使狗兒們與其他野生動物互不相犯。澳洲犬是當地野狗的統稱。
生態永續環保部門的資深研究科學家雅倫‧羅布里表示:「我們希望這是控管澳洲犬的一個非致命手段。」該部門是政府贊助的研究機構。
他說:「你可以利用這種非致命的界線,將動物從人們所不希望牠們進入的地方驅離,例如是他們的後院,或是那些侵佔荒野地區的城鎮,或是一座遭狗兒入侵攻擊羊隻的綿羊農場。」
動物無時無刻以化學信號宣示其社會地位、透露牠們是否正值發情期或準備繁衍後代,以及彰顯關於牠們食物的事宜。該信號來自牠們排泄出的化學物質。
科學家們蒐集不分公母老幼、被圈養的澳洲犬尿液,並將尿液存放在澳洲各地的私人蒐藏點,然後再將這些樣本送至附近實驗室,提取尿液中不同化學記號。
羅布里說:「那個分析告訴我們每種化學物質是多麼地強烈。」
這些化學物質被複製並送回給受試狀態下的動物,以觀察牠們的反應。
一般認為野狗對於整個澳洲家畜,每年所造成的損失大約是六千四百萬澳幣(約新台幣十九點四億元)。光是澳洲南部的維多利亞州,損失就高達一千八百萬澳幣(約新台幣五點四五億元)。
羅布里說:「非洲波紮那有對野狗,進行極類似的實驗,但之前從未有人試圖提取野狗或稱澳洲犬的尿液,並識別其組成化學化合物,或是從控管的觀點利用該化合物。」
(路透/翻譯:林亞蒂)
A: Also, police seized seven pornographic videos featuring minors that entertainer Mickey Huang purchased in his hard disc. B: That’s just outrageous! A: His ex-girlfriend entertainer Little S and some others are calling for a legal amendment to increase the penalty. B: The buyers and sellers should both be punished heavily. A: But the porn sellers’ Web sites are mostly overseas, so they are hard to catch. A: 此外警方也在黃子佼的硬碟裡,查到7部他買的未成年色情片。 B: 真是令人火大! A: 他的前女友小S等人,還呼籲修法,加重相關的罰則。 B: 購買者和販賣者雙方都該重罰。 A: 不過色情網站大多設在海外要抓也不容易吧。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
A: Entertainer Mickey Huang’s #MeToo scandal has kept snowballing. B: Didn’t Huang just escape prosecution on several sexual misconduct charges due to a lack of evidence? A: He has now been accused of raping a woman identified as "Miss K." B: It’s like one trouble follows another! A: His decent “persona” in the showbiz has totally collapsed. A: 藝人黃子佼的#MeToo事件真是沒完沒了。 B: 他的性騷擾案不是因為證據不足獲得不起訴? A: 但他又被某位「K小姐」指控性侵。 B: 天啊,真是一波未平,一波又起! A: 他在娛樂圈的優質「人設」都崩壞啦。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Jumping rope has long been considered an excellent form of exercise. It not only burns calories but also improves cardiovascular health and __1__ core muscles. Anyone who has used a traditional jump rope, though, knows that it requires a certain level of skill and coordination. However, with the development of the cordless jump rope, this is __2__ the case. The cordless jump rope is an innovation in the fitness industry that has gained popularity in recent years. As its name suggests, it doesn’t have a cord connecting the two handles. Instead, each handle features a short cord with a
Let’s explore another delicacy primarily known to Tainan locals: floating milkfish in thick soup. Despite its peculiar name, this dish is another Tainan specialty that showcases the popularity of milkfish, which is made into fish paste and served in thick soup. Unlike the version with tutuo fish, which also adds other ingredients to its thick soup, the floating milkfish version primarily features the “floating fish” itself in its thick soup, ensuring that the fish paste remains the star of the dish. 讓我們來探索另一道台南人熟悉的美食:浮水魚羹。這道菜名奇特的美食,再再展現了台南虱目魚料理的多樣。浮水魚羹是用虱目魚漿做成的羹品,雖然和𩵚魠魚羹一樣是羹湯,但不像𩵚魠魚羹會在湯中加入其他食材,而是讓虱目魚漿成為這道料理的主角。 peculiar (adj.) 獨特的;古怪的 The belly of a milkfish is considered the most