SOME endangered animals might be saved if their predators think they鈥檒l be
sick after eating them, a scientist told a meeting of the Zoological Society of
London last week.
A team led by David Cowan of the Central Science Laboratory in York developed
鈥渃onditioned taste aversion鈥� in five foxes by giving them pheasant laced with
oestradiol, making them sick.
The foxes then avoided pheasant meat for at least 52 weeks. 鈥淥nly a single
pairing of taste and illness is required to induce aversion,鈥� says Cowan. The
team plans to test the technique in the wild.
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