Tuesday, 26 November 2019 11:13

Why the stripes?

Written by  Milking It

An experiment on a herd of cows in central Japan appears to have proven a radical, nature-inspired solution to a pest problem plaguing farmers.

Zebras and their gaudy coats have long intrigued scientists, spawning theories on how and why a few equine species developed stripes. A consensus emerged: the zigzag pattern was an evolutionary response to biting insects, especially carriers of deadly diseases. Insects, it seems, have a harder time landing on striped surfaces than solid-colored ones.

If it works for wild horses in Africa, why not cows in a Japanese pasture? So pondered the staff of the Aichi Agricultural Research Center, near the city of Nagoya. Together with agri school colleagues at Kyoto University, the center decided to experiment on its herd of Japanese black cattle. The white-striped cows sustained only half as many bug attacks as either of the other groups. 

More like this

Featured

National

Machinery & Products

New pick-up for Reiter R10 merger

Building on experience gained during 10 years of making mergers/ windrowers, Austrian company Reiter has announced the secondgeneration pick-up on…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Trees cut for COP30?

OPINION: As the COP30 talkfest ended, claims are surfacing that the controversial Avenida Liberdade - a four-lane 13km highway which…

Badge of honour!

OPINION: Milking It reckons New Zealand should take a bow after winning the 'Fossil of the Day' award at COP30…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter