Arctic Reindeer by Glen Jeffery (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology)
Animals may avoid high voltage power cables because of flashing UV light that is undetectable to humans, scientists say. The phenomenon of mammals and birds avoiding high voltage power lines has been recognised for some time but had puzzled scientists because suspended cables are neither a barrier to wildlife nor are regularly associated with humans. Moreover, avoidance may persist for decades after the lines are built. However a BBSRC-funded team of researchers from University College London (UCL), Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, UIT The Arctic University of Norway and the University of Oslo in Norway, believes that UV light emitted from power cables is a cause. They detail their findings in a letter published in Conservation Biology . Power lines give off ultraviolet as irregular flashes at insulators and as a standing corona along the cables. Ultraviolet is invisible to humans but birds and some mammals, including reindeer, are able to see it.
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