This is the VOA SpecialEnglish AGRICULTURE REPORT.
Wildlife experts like Jane Goodall are famous for studyinganimals in the wild. In recent years, a new kind of scientific studyhas developed. More and more experts are studying cows and pigs onfarms. Such experts are called farm animal ethologists. They aresimilar to wildlife experts. They observe farm animals in theirnatural environment and interfere as little as possible.
The United States Department of Agriculture employs two farmanimal ethologists. They measure stress in farm animals as part ofefforts to improve the way the animals are treated. Stress is amental or emotional influence that is harmful to the body.
Julie Morrow-Tesch was the first U-S-D-A farm animal ethologist.She says stress in animals can cause serious problems. These includeslower growth, disease, injury and sometimes death.
Mizz Morrow-Tesch and her team work from a large vehicle that hascameras and other equipment. They work near large, open feedingareas for cattle in the state of Texas. Team members use hiddencameras or sit on top of the vehicle to study the animals. Theyobserve the actions of individual cows every fifteen minutes.
Each feeding area has two-hundred or more cattle. The team canstudy several feeding areas at the same time. The vehicle keeps teammembers hidden from the cattle. The team uses specialnight-observation equipment to avoid the need for bright lights.
Mizz Morrow-Tesch and her team studied more than five-thousandcattle in thirty-one feeding areas. They recorded the cows feeding,drinking, standing, lying and walking. They also recorded aggressiveactions among the animals.
Their observations already have identified some problems andpossible answers. For example, they found that feeding the animalsjust before sunset instead of in the morning reduced aggressionamong the animals. Aggressive cattle may injure other animals.
The team also identified the value of protecting cattle in hotweather. Cattle kept away from direct sunlight reached their marketweight twenty days earlier than animals in unprotected areas. Also,the protected cattle weighed about twenty-seven kilograms more thanthe other animals.
This VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT was written by GeorgeGrow.