Scientists in Germany have successfully potty-trained cows as a solution to the environmental threat posed by animal waste pollution.
Researchers were able to train 11 of 16 cows to use a “MooLoo” when they needed to urinate, a study published Monday in the journal Current Biology revealed.
The scientists used a sweet liquid containing molasses to lure the cows into a special pen when they had to go. If a cow urinated outside of the pen, they would receive a squirt of water. It only took 15 days for researchers to train the cows to use the pens successfully.
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”The cows are at least as good as children, age 2 to 4 years, at least as quick,” said Lindsay Matthews, a senior author of the study and animal behavioral scientist at New Zealand’s University of Auckland. Matthews worked on the project with other researchers at an indoor animal research lab in Germany.
The findings present a viable option to reduce pollution caused by animal waste, which in large amounts can cause serious damage to the environment.
One cow can pee as much as eight gallons per day, and the nitrogen contained within the urine can mix with feces to become ammonia, which creates a toxic byproduct when mixed with acid rain, Matthews explained. The urine can also taint the water and produce the airborne pollutant nitrous oxide, he added.
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Nitrous oxide made up 7% of all U.S. greenhouse gases in 2019, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
“I am not surprised they can train calves to urinate in set locations, but I am surprised no one has demonstrated this before,” said Duke University animal cognition scientist Brian Hare. “The critical question is, ‘Can it and will it scale?'”
