Deodorant Sought to Save New Zealand's Native Birds

New Zealand researchers have received a NZ$600,000 grant to develop a deodorant for native birds whose strong odors make them easy targets for introduced predators. Since the birds evolved without any mammal predators they emit a very strong odor compared to birds in other parts of the world. Canterbury University researcher Jim Briskie says kiwis smell like mushrooms or ammonia, while kakapo parrots have a hint of "musty violin case."

Comments

survival of the fittest

[yincrash]

are we going to just deodorize them for the rest of time? i understand that it's probably our introduction of predators, but other than preservation in a zoo, how is it any way feasible or practical to deodorize them?

Re:survival of the fittest

[Moryath]

It's not feasible, but that never stopped a government full of fucking morons from authorizing this kind of waste of money before.

These are the same type of people who decided there were too many insects, so they brought in toads... then they brought in cats, dogs, bunnies as pets... they brought in foxes for "recreational hunting"...brought in "pretty flowers", "garden plants", and on and on.

It's a wonder that vineweeds like "St. Augustine Grass" haven't overrun the whole fucking island. Of course, they have enough trouble with ragwort...

Re:survival of the fittest

[richardkelleher]

In all likelihood, the deodorization process will break their breeding process and they will disappear completely in a year or two.

Re:survival of the fittest

[Rei]

Let me provide the history here. Let's look at the Kakapo, for example.

The Kakapo, or "owl parrot", is the heaviest (and only flightless) parrot species in the world. It is a unique evolutionary branch; it is the only member in not just its genus, but its own monotypic tribe. It has a wide range of unusual habits, such as being nocturnal and having a lek breeding system (where the males gather in a certain place at a certain time and put on shows to attract females).

It is incredibly well camouflaged, which was its defense in an area devoid of mammals which can hunt by smell. When cats, rats, ferrets, weasels, and stoats were introduced to New Zealand, however, it become a sitting dinner. The population on the mainland collapsed. In the late 1800s, they tried moving the remaining birds to Resolution Island as a sanctuary. In 1900s, stoats swam to the island and wiped out the entire population there in six years. So they tried moving the increasingly rare Kakapos to Little Barrier Island. Feral cats existed on the island, and the birds were never seen again. So they tried Kapiti island. The birds held out a bit longer against the feral cats there, but died as well. The bird went extinct on the north Island of New Zealand, and they were only rarely spotted on the south. A few times they caught enough birds to try to breed them in captivity. Every attempt failed. At several times, the birds were believed to be extinct or functionally extinct.

Then, in 1977, they found a small, precarious population of kakapo on Steward Island. There were no stoats, but feral cats were killing half the population every year. They had good luck controlling the cats, but could not eliminate them, so they began transferring the birds to even more remote islands and embarking on major predator eradication efforts. They finally got them to start breeding and increasing their numbers (although early on, polynesian rats were a huge predator of chicks). The population was down to about 40 in the mid 1990s, but is now up to 122 at present.

While the efforts to eradicate predators have been pretty successful, polynesian rats still remain a big problem in places. They go through great efforts to keep the rats away from the nests, including electronic devices with IR motion sensors that make bangs and flashes when rats approach. In short, for the time being, these species are entirely dependent on humans for their survival, and until a stable population can be reached, they will continue to need our assistance. The long term goal is to have stable populations on predator-free islands.

In the mean time, if you can make it so rats, cats, stoats, etc can't smell the defenseless birds? That'd be a huge, money-saving coup that could really help restore the populations.

Re:survival of the fittest

[Just_Say_Duhhh]

Wouldn't it be easier to make a Kakapo-scented TRAP?

If you can't get rid of the predators, at least help the predators select out their taste for Kakapo

Re:survival of the fittest

[ChrisMaple]

It is simply not possible to meet all human needs. That you don't undrestand this is an indication that you don't know how vile some people are. There are people who destroy stuff for the fun of it or because they're too drunk/drugged to know what they're doing, or care what they're doing. Having destroyed their own stuff, they'll whine that their needs aren't being met, and there will always be others who insist that a third party provide their needs.

People who do not deserve to live, should not be helped to live off the efforts of others. A person who helps someone who is immoral, is performing an immoral act.

What? Deoderant repelling prey?

[Beerdood]

I find that hard to believe. According to the commercials I've seen, deodorants like Old Spice and Axe body spray seems to attract natural predators like cougars more than they repel them.

Re:Reproductive system.

[eln]

This is a valid concern. Once you introduce deodorant into their lifestyle the female of the species will start to naturally gravitate toward the males that smell less like an old shoe and more like Old Spice. This will naturally encourage more of the males to use the deodorant. From there it's only a matter of time before these things are drenching themselves in Axe body spray and getting fake tans.

Re:I know hippies will mod me down for this

[Moryath]

Also, one would imagine if they tasted good, New Zealand would long ago have started farming them and introduced "New Zealand Fried Kakapo" restaurants all over.

I suppose it would be bad for them to all die, but I'm not sure why, exactly.

Species go extinct all the time. They did it before humans, they'll do it after humans. Some of them do it to themselves, some succumb to natural climate shifts, some wind up as dinner due to an evolution by a predator. One good volcanic eruption can take out a whole bunch of them - and if it burns up most of the plant material on the island, the herbivores are pretty much doomed.

Humans are the most arrogant idiotic species on the planet: we're so damn arrogant we actually think we can save species of animals from the normal course of change, e.g. extinction.

Re:I know hippies will mod me down for this

[John Whitley]

I suppose it would be bad for them to all die, but I'm not sure why, exactly.

Wow, what's not to understand here?

1. Animal adapts to its native environment, and survives just fine.
2. Humans introduce invasive, non-native species that displace and/or devastate native species. Being capable of awareness of our environment and capable of compassion, we eventually feel like fuck-ups for this. "Damn, made a mess. Maybe should go clean it up."
3. We try to do something about it.

It's #2 that's key, and it doesn't require being a "hippie" to get it. Even non-hippies manage to keep a clean house. Is that sentiment so hard to grok?

Re:Reproductive system.

[russ1337]

Hello, ladies, look at your Kiwi, now back to me, now back at your Kiwi, now back to me. Sadly, he isn’t me, but if he stopped using dirt scented body wash and switched to Old Spice, he could smell like he’s me. Look down, back up, where are you? You’re on a Waka with the kiwi your kiwi could smell like. What’s in your beak, back at me. I have it, it’s an kina with two worms. Look again, the worms are now tikis. Anything is possible when your kiwi smells like Old Spice and not dirt. I’m on a sheep.