How to transfer a rhinoceros?
Taking him upside down 0:56
(CNN) -
A team of researchers who experimented with hanging rhinos by their legs to transport them by air received an Ig Nobel Prize.
The award is a parody that borrows the name of the world famous Nobel Prize winner, but is not related to him.
Created by the scientific journal Annals of Improbable Research, the annual Ig Nobel Prize has been held since 1991 and honors curious and "imaginative" discoveries and, like the original, has its own following.
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The winning team is made up of researchers from Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Brazil, the UK and the US, who were trying to see if rhinos could be transported more safely when done by air, suspending the mammals from head.
As part of the experiment, led by Robin Radcliffe, Senior Lecturer in Conservation and Wildlife Medicine at Cornell University, the team sedated 12 black rhinos in Namibia with aerial darts, tied their legs and suspended them.
They then measured their respiration and ventilation biomarkers.
Scientists achieve recognition for experiment with alligator 0:53
An important discovery for conservation
Rhinos are often transported, usually by road but sometimes by air, across different parts of the African savanna to ensure that the species maintains a diverse gene pool.
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Conservationists have been using helicopters to move sedated rhinos through inaccessible terrain for about a decade, either by placing them on their side on a stretcher attached to the aircraft or by hanging them by the legs.
However, until now little was known about which method of transport was best for the rhinos' welfare.
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Speaking to CNN about the experiment earlier this year, Radcliffe, the lead researcher, said the team had assumed that hanging rhinos by the legs while transporting them was worse for the animals' welfare and was surprised to learn that it was. quite the opposite.
Rhinos were found to have higher blood oxygen levels when suspended upside down.
"We were anticipating that rhinos would fare worse hanging by their legs," he said at the time.
The study, which was published in January in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases, began in 2015 and involved 12 rhinos weighing between 802 and 1,233 kilograms each.
Among the other scientists honored this year was a group of researchers who investigated bacteria that live in gum discarded on sidewalks, and researchers who discovered that orgasms can clear nasal congestion in humans.
Last year, the Ig Nobel Prize was awarded to a team of Austrian and Japanese scientists who put an alligator in a box filled with helium and made it make noises.
Another distinguished experiment found that narcissists can be identified by their eyebrows.
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CNN's Rebecca Cairns and Rob Picheta contributed to this report.
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