The most elegant solutions are often the most clever and simple. In the case of iCow, you can add “funny” to the list of adjectives. A conservation biologist named Neil Jordan, hailing from the University of New South Wales in Australia, came up with the idea to paint eyes on the butts of cows in order to stop predators. And you know what? It really worked! (1)
Predators Become Prey
It all started when he was working in a small village in Botswana, Africa. The big cats who are native to the area are notorious for hunting the local cows, so, the farmers often shoot them. They can’t necessarily be blamed for trying to protect their livelihood, and the cats are just part of the natural ecosystem. They need to eat too! But in recent years the African lion has become a vulnerable species, largely because of the farmers. Back in the 1990s, there were more than 100,000 African lions, but by 2016 those numbers had dropped to less than 40,000. That’s a huge decline, but not all that surprising given that there were no non-lethal options for farmers to try. Conservation of another species isn’t really at the top of your mind when you’re trying to preserve your own livelihood.
The Eyes Have It
Lions are ambush hunters, which means that they sneak up on their prey and use the element of surprise to catch them. Mr. Jordan was watching a lion stalk an impala one day, and noticed that when the impala had clearly spotted the lion, it was game over. The hunt was off. That was when he came up with the idea to paint eyes on the cows.
To test the hypothesis he teamed up with local farmers for a 10-week study. Within a herd of 62 cattle, eyes were stamped on the butts of one-third of them. Upon returning to the farm each night, the cows were tallied up. Just three of them were killed by lions during the study, and all of them were in the “no eyes” group. Every one of the cows with eyes on their butt lived to see another day.
Natural Markings Keep Predators At Bay
As it happens, Mother Nature has been painting eyeballs on things forever. The incredibly beautiful (and maybe a little creepy) Atlas moth comes right to mind. With a wingspan of up to a foot, the surface area of which is more than 60 square inches, it is recognized as the largest moth in the world. Its huge, ornate wings are beautifully colored and patterned, each with a tip that looks exactly like a snake’s head. In fact, the Cantonese name for the Atlas moth translates to “snake’s head moth”. It’ll certainly make you do a double-take. (2)
The iCow idea is so great because, just as Mother Nature already knows, everyone deserves a fighting chance in life… a little defense. By giving the cows a leg-up on predators, it helps farmers too, all without costing more precious big cat lives. It’s the perfect thing to bring balance to this ecosystem with predators and prey in such close proximity. An elegant solution indeed.
