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Never Paint a Go-Cart black and white,
Live "sex shows" of bulls

Bulls get simulated cows at farmers' fair

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Live "sex shows" of bulls mounting a simulated cow have become a big attraction at an agricultural exhibition taking place in New Zealand.

The fake 'cow' -- a small go-kart with natural cowhide on its roof -- was developed by Ambreed New Zealand Ltd. to collect semen from bulls more safely and efficiently and improve artificial breeding of cows.

Similar machines are widely used in Europe but have yet to be introduced in New Zealand, where dairy products are its largest export.

The go-kart, driven by a human operator, draws close to a bull and adjusts to the proper height.

The experience can be a little alarming.

"It's quite a daunting feeling when you consider you've got a bull there that weighs a thousand kilograms sitting on top of you and is in quite an aggressive mood," Andrew Medley, production manager at Ambreed, told Reuters.

Bull semen is commonly obtained using a rubber device known as an artificial vagina which is put in place manually by two handlers.

June 14, 2006

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