Kicking up a stink can save livestock. Dr Peter Apps argues in his paper that the use of chemical signals can alleviate human-predator conflict. He says that “conflict with humans over attacks on livestock is a threat to all large carnivore populations, and some meso-carnivores. Stopping predators from attacking livestock will alleviate the conflict, and repellents and artificially scent-marked home range boundaries are a promising new tool for that purpose.”

He says that in his research “screening tests show that single components and simple mixtures of components from predator odours repel various species of large and meso-carnivores that are pests of livestock. Controlled release of one component of leopard urine; 3-mercapto-3-methylbutanol reduces attacks on kraaled calves by 4.5 times.”

Apps runs Botswana Predator Conservation’s BioBoundary Project, which develops innovative tools to manage human-wildlife conflict. He has a PhD in Zoology from the University of Pretoria and his background is a combination of zoology and analytical chemistry, and he has had a correspondingly varied career.

In 2008, he joined the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust and moved to Maun in Botswana to set up a laboratory specifically to identify the active components of scent-marks from African wild dogs, lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyaenas and small carnivores. The identified components will be used to produce artificial scent signals that will deter predators from leaving protected areas, and prevent them from attacking livestock. Apps has written 72 scientific publications, chapters for four books, 24 magazine articles, and five popular books on southern African wildlife.