How Urine 'Bio-Fences' Could Save African Wild Dogs
Yvonne Mcarthur | Environmental Graffiti |Nov 14 2012
Photo: Steve Jurvetson
Most of us would never guess that urine is at the cutting
edge of scientific research. Pee doesn’t seem too
complicated to us: it’s yellow, it smells like ammonia, and
it washes byproducts out of the body. Simple, right?
Wrong. African wild dog urine, for example, is extremely
complex. It contains mixtures of hundreds of organic
chemicals in ridiculously low quantities (under the parts
per billion range), and it allows the dogs to communicate
with one other in mysterious and intriguing ways. And
although analyzing the chemical composition of pee may
not sound very forward-thinking or important, this
research could actually mean the difference between life
and death for one of African’s most persecuted predators.
The reason anyone is bothering to study dog urine
all boils down to human-wildlife conflicts. Africa’s wild
dogs can have territories ranging from 200 to 400 square
miles, and they hunt in packs, bringing down one antelope
or other large animal every day. With their territory
decreasing, these “notorious fence-breakers” often end up
in human-occupied areas and threaten livestock. And to
protect their livelihood, people shoot, poison and trap the
dogs. In fact, up to 60% of wild dog deaths are caused by
humans. As a result, these lovely-colored canines are
desperately endangered, with only 5,000 individuals left
in the wild.
“Tico” McNutt, a Seattle native who has been
working with wild dogs in Botswana for over 20 years,
came up with the idea of using a “bio-fence” to keep the
dogs away from humans and livestock. Since the dogs use
scent markers in their urine to demarcate their territory,
McNutt figured it was possible to intentionally use the
urine as a kind of invisible boundary. What’s more, his
theory turned out to work really well in practice.
Researchers at the Northern Tuli Game Reserve in
Botswana collected urine from alpha males and females
and transported it hundreds of miles to strategic locations
– keeping the wild dogs within a safe tract of land.
Photo: Luca Venturi
But collecting the urine samples necessary to
maintain the bio-boundary (and flying them to the game
reserve) is no easy task. The better solution would be to
have a synthetic, easily replicable marker. And that brings
us back to that groundbreaking urine research we
mentioned earlier. Identifying the appropriate boundary
markers (within the hundreds of molecules present in dog
urine) is a massive task. Indeed, it’s basically equivalent to
deciphering an entire language: the language of smell.
Huge variations exist in urine produced by the same
dog on different days, in different locations and at
different times. Dogs within a pack have different scent
markers, and there are also differences from pack to pack.
All of this amounts to a massively complex
communication system, or code, if you will – a code that
researchers in Maun, Botswana are trying to break.
If they succeed, it will mean a huge step forward in
the science of semiochemistry (using substances to
communicate) as well as in conservation efforts. This
research could not only save the dwindling wild dog
populations in Africa by preventing human-wildlife
conflicts but could also lead to “enhanced breeding
techniques”, “disease diagnostics” and “population
monitoring, repellents, baits and attractants.”
Photo: Sean Murphy
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McCarthur, Yvonne. “How Urine 'Bio-Fences' Could Save African Wild Dogs” Environmental Graffiti.
November 14 2012. Web. March 18 2013.
Photo: I Love Trees
Read more at http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/nature/news-incredible-wild-dog-urine-biofences#C1MsSuZyDXsrrdMf.99