澳大利亚研究人员日前发现，老虎的粪便可以有效地驱赶野山羊、野猪等对当地农业造成危害的动物。

据路透社2月17日报道，澳大利亚昆士兰大学的研究人员17日表示，他们已经通过试验成功制造出了一种"老虎粪便驱虫剂"。这种驱虫剂具有驱赶野山羊的作用，效果至少达3天。

老虎粪便驱虫剂的研制者彼得·莫里在一份声明中表示，"从进化的观点来看，此地的山羊至少15代未曾见过一只老虎了，但是它们仍然能够辨认出天敌的气味"。

莫里说，"老虎粪便驱虫剂"是用脂肪酸和从老虎粪便中提炼的硫磺物质制成的。除了能防止野山羊对当地农业造成危害之外，它对野猪、袋鼠和野兔同样起作用，另外还可阻止鹿、马及牛等家畜的破坏行为。

报道说，野山羊等动物平均每年会给澳大利亚带来大约4.2亿澳元（约合3.11亿美元）的农业损失。因此，"老虎粪便驱虫剂"的研发无疑具有非常巨大的市场前景。

（国际在线独家资讯 王高山）

本稿件为国际在线专稿，媒体转载请注明稿件来源和译者姓名。

A tiger's roar might be scary, but Australian researchers have found that the predator's poo is just as potent.

Researchers at the University of Queensland said on Friday they had successfully trialled a tiger poo repellant, warding off wild goats for at least three days.

"Goats wouldn't have seen a tiger from an evolutionary point of view for at least 15 generations but they recognize the smell of the predator," repellent creator Peter Murray said in a statement.

"If we can show this lasts weeks ... we've just tapped into probably a billion-dollar market. It's enormous," he said.

Murray said the repellant, made of fatty acids and sulphurous compounds extracted from tiger excrement, also worked on feral pigs, kangaroos and rabbits and might deter deer, horses and cattle too.

In an average year pest animals cause about A$420 million (US$311 million) worth of agricultural damage in Australia the government has said. Others put the cost in the billions, mostly from European imports such as rabbits, foxes and crop-choking weeds.