Swiss biologists are testing a sheep collar wolf-warning device that registers heart rate changes and alerts shepherds to attacks via text message, while simultaneously emitting a repellant.The envisioned collar is in its preliminary phase, and the heart monitor faculty was recently trialled for the first time outdoors near Les Diablerets ski resort. The team, which includes biologist Jean-Marc Landry, fit the collars of 12 sheep with heart rate monitors (similar to the devices used by runners) before releasing them into an enclosure with two muzzled Czechoslovakian wolf dogs. The predators circled the sheep before attempting an attack. Readings from the collar monitors later showed a significant spike in the heart rate of the sheep, from a standard 60 to 80 beats per minute to 225 when the wolf dogs launched their attack. Read more….
