Image by: Washington Post.com
Yes! You heard that right! Cows are being trained to go to the bathroom! Everyone is calling this the MooLoo. 22 / 32 cows have learnt to use the MooLoo when they need to go. Just like parents, researchers are using scrumptious treats to lure in the young calves to wee in a unique sort of pen.
It took only a fortnight for the adolescent cows to master the art of having to go. The results of the intriguing study were recorded in the journal Current Biology.
Now you might ask what does this have to do with climate change and the environment? Dr. Matthews, an animal behavioural scientist at New Zealand’s University of Auckland is here to explain. He quoted ” The massive amount of urine waste is a serious environmental issue
“. Here is his scientific explanation on why urine waste affects the environment massively: ” Urine contains nitrogen, and when mixed with faeces becomes ammonia, which is an environmental issue with acid rain and other problems – including tainting the water with nitrates and creating the airborne pollutant nitrous oxide”, Dr Matthews said.
Surprisingly, cows do wee a lot! “1 cow can create up to 30 litres of urine a day”, Dr. Matthew quoted. If this incredible feat can be achieved, it would be easier to handle waste management and greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists predict that toilet training other animals could cut down a huge cause of climate change, but do you think that it’s a good idea to toilet train other animals? Let me know down in the comments!