Wild, but working
Human beings have been domesticating animals to perform tasks for thousands of years. In fact, it’s a feature of our civilisation that we’ve trained animals, like horses, to do our hard labour. As Yuval Noah Harari writes in Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, during the agricultural revolution humans turned from nomadic hunter-gatherers into farmers living in permanent settlements. This led to the appearance of a new life form on Earth: domesticated animals. But there are many other, often strange, examples of the work that humans have trained animals and insects to do.
“SNIFFER” BEES
Bees have an acute sense of smell, and in being trained to “sniff” for drugs they’re taught to fly away from the odour given off by narcotics. In the past bees have been used to sniff out explosives, drugs, uranium, pregnant women, and diseases such as cancer. This bizarre new use for the little insect, whose honey we already steal to enjoy, could see devices containing bees, and other insects like cockroaches, used at airports to screen luggage for heroin, cocaine and amphetamines. You might have a shocking surprise waiting for you at the other end of your trip if cockroaches are let loose in your suitcase.
As if this isn’t strange enough, Croatian scientists are training bees to sniff out landmines. After a swarm of bees is released, a heat-sensing camera is used to track their movements to any mines hidden below the soil. Classic Pavlovian conditioning is used to associate the smell of a substance with their food source. The scientists mix a sugar solution with a small amount of TNT. After about five minutes of hunting for the doped sugar solution, the honeybees are trained to flock to the smell of TNT.
“COMBAT” DOLPHINS
You’ve heard of the Navy Seals, well, the US Navy has dolphins too. As part of the Navy Marine Mammal Program, the US military has trained bottlenose dolphins in various combat and military roles. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in San Diego has trained 85 dolphins so far, at a cost of $14-million (about R230-million per year.) The Navy implemented a programme in 1960 to train dolphins and sea lions to help with defence, and mine detection, plus the design of submarines and underwater weapons. The bottlenose dolphins’ asset is their highly evolved biosonar, which can help find underwater mines, while the sea lions’ asset is their impeccable underwater vision, which helps detect enemy swimmers. The animals are trained using rewards on completion of a task. Dolphins have contributed to saving more lives in open water than trained life savers.
“PRUNING” SHEEP
Many vineyards use pesticides to help control insects and weeds that might threaten crops. However, recent consumer trends show customers want the option of organic and chemical-free products, so winemakers have started looking for more natural maintenance solutions. Taking inspiration from New Zealand farmers, a Canadian vineyard owner began using lambs to prune the leaves from vines so the fruit could grow better. The youngsters can’t reach the grapes and aren’t heavy enough to trample the soil, while their droppings provide excellent organic fertiliser.