see also this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_rsuGp_tas

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...es-behinds.html

I've got eyes in the back of my herd: British scientist stops lions hunting cattle in Botswana by painting faces on their behinds so the predators think they've been spotted

He believes lions are less likely to attack if they think they've been 'seen'
Dr Neil Jordan is trying to stop farmers killing lions in retaliation attacks
He draws eyes on the back of cows to 'intimidate' the big cats
He hopes the method can be used by local farmers to save their cattle

By Sarah Dean For Mailonline

Published: 15:16 GMT, 5 July 2016 | Updated: 18:24 GMT, 5 July 2016

A British scientist has begun painting intimidating eye-patterns onto cows' behinds in a creative bid to stop lions from hunting them.

Dr Neil Jordan believes if he can stop African lions killing farmers' cattle, then farmers will stop killing the endangered lions.

'Farmers currently have very few effective tools to prevent this devastating lion-livestock conflict. Unfortunately shooting or poisoning predators is not only used as a last resort, farmers often feel it is their only resort,' Dr Jordan said.

The conservation biologist, who works with the University of New South Wales and Taronga Zoo in Sydney, is trialling his theory in the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

Dr Neil Jordan is testing a theory that drawing eyes on cows' behinds will stop lions attacking them

The idea is to trick the big cats into thinking they have been seen by drawing eyes on the back of the cows, so that they do not attack.

He has labelled the ingenious idea 'i-cow' and hopes it will provide local farmers with a low-cost and non-lethal tool to reduce livestock losses without having to kill lions.

In a video posted online, Dr Jordan explained that he is 'testing the hypothesis that painting intimidating eye patches on to cows reduces predation'.

The idea is to trick the big cats into thinking they have been seen by drawing eyes on the back of the cows

Local farmers have been known to kill lions in retaliation attacks after their cows have been killed

Dr Jordan hopes the method will provide local farmers with a low-cost and non-lethal tool to reduce livestock losses without having to kill lions

'Lions are supreme ambush predators, they rely on stealth. When seen they lose this element of surprise and abandon their hunt,' he said.

The scientist has already carried out a small 3-month sample test of his theory, which gave promising results.

'While 3 out of 39 unpainted cows were killed by lions, none of the 23 painted cows from the same herd were killed,' he said

Dr Jordan is now fundraising to be able to buy more of the equipment needed to carry out further tests.

African lion populations are in decline throughout most of the continent.

'In 1975 there was an estimated 250,000 lions in Africa, yet today the continent wide population stands at a mere 25 – 30,000 individuals.

'This staggering 80-90 per cent decline combines with the fragmentation and isolation of those remaining sub-populations with little long-term viability,' World Lion Day reports.