If you ’ve natter the Dartmoor domain in Devon , England late , you might have noticed a few ponies cruising around with bright , glowing chevron of blue key on their pelt . As part of a trial outpouring for a project to protect the sphere ’s native pony population from automobilist , the brute encounter base hit stripes in September , and authorities are report that the new method for keeping ponies and cars apart is working .
Thus far in 2015 , 74 ponies have been killed along the highly trafficked roads — the privately owned ponies spend most of the year grazing freely across the grassy Dartmoor commons and often wander into the street ( as deer or other unfenced wildlife might ) . For this prophylactic tryout , specially formulated pigment with a reflective element was apply to the sides and bottoms of some ponies in order of magnitude to make the brute more seeable at Nox . The intended consequence of the paint , as describe byBBC Newsat the get-go of the trial last calendar month , is that drivers " would not see the animal , but [ rather ] an ' alien glow ' which should slow them down , " secure that member of both species are dependable .
" The broody component is very shining and despite the dire weather it ’s very visible,“said Karla McKechnie , a livestock protection officer with theDartmoor Livestock Protection Society , which spearhead the campaign . She explicate toBBC Newsthat the “ moor is a working landscape ” inhabit by pony , cow , and various wildlife , and that if the paint worked on the ponies , they would expand the labor to let in the various other farm animal .
As BBC News manoeuver outback in October , when the shot glass - painting program was still in development , the Dartmoor nonprofit borrowed the mind from the Finnish Reindeer Herders Association . Up to 4000 caribou are felled by cars in Finland every year , so last winter , , the association took tolighting reindeer antlerswith beam - in - the - dark paints in purchase order to preclude dealings fatalities .
With the Dartmoor project now underway , McKechnie articulate the plan is to “ monitor how long [ the blusher ] remains on the creature , and the fellowship behind the paint is trying to see whether it can create an even brighter and more durable version . ”
[ h / tBBC News ]
