MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, September 2, 2008: Images from Google Earth have confirmed that cattle tend to align their bodies in a north-south direction. Wild deer also display this behavior – a phenomenon that has apparently gone unnoticed by herdsmen and hunters for thousands of years. In the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences, scientists say the Earth’s magnetic fields may influence the behavior of these animals. The Earth can be viewed as a huge magnet, with magnetic north and south situated close to the geographical poles. Many species – including birds and salmon – are known to use the Earth’s magnetic fields in migration, rather like a natural GPS. A few studies have shown that some mammals – including bats – also use a “magnetic compass” to help their sense of direction.
The researchers surveyed Google Earth images of 8,510 grazing and resting cattle in 308 pasture plains across the globe. “Sometimes it took hours and hours to find some pictures with good resolution,” said Dr Begall. The scientists were unable to distinguish between the head and rear of the cattle, but could tell that the animals tended to face either north or south. Their study ruled out the possibility that the Sun position or wind direction were major influences on the orientation of the cattle. Dr Begall said: “In Africa and South America, the cattle (were) shifted slightly to a more north-eastern-south-western direction. Professor John Phillips, a sensory biologist from Virginia Tech University, US, commented that this sixth magnetic sense might be “virtually ubiquitous in the animal kingdom”. He added: “We need to think about some really fundamental things that this sensory ability provides in animals.”