Cows, who have become the scourge of environmentalists, can be potty trained as easily as toddlers, maybe easier, according to scientists.
Why is this important? If the practice can become widespread, there could be less damage to the environment.
Recent research estimated that by 2030, the planet will be generating at least five billion tonnes of poo each year, with the vast majority being deposited by livestock. Unless the dung is dealt with rapidly, it pollutes the air with large amounts of harmful gases such as ammonia, nitrous oxide and hydrogen sulphide. Then there is the thorny issue of climate change: agricultural waste is one of the biggest emitters of methane.
The study’s senior author Lindsay Matthews, an animal behavioural scientist at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, said 11 out of 16 cows learned to use the ‘MooLoo’ when they had to go at an indoor animal research laboratory in Dummerstorf, Germany.
Just like some parents, the researchers used a sweet treat to coax the cows to push through a gate and urinate in a special pen. And it took only 15 days to train the young calves.
“The cows are at least as good as children, age two to four years, at least as quick,” said Mr Matthews, an Honorary Academic, whose work is published in the journal Current Biology.
Urine contains nitrogen, and when mixed with faeces becomes ammonia. It can also taint the water with nitrates and create the airborne pollutant nitrous oxide.
And cows do pee a lot. A single cow can produce about 30 litres of urine a day, Mr Matthews said.
Will this be a fun waste of research money or can it work and scale up?
