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The bar-headed goose migratory path takes it over the Himalayan
Mountains each year between China and Mongolia to their Indian breeding
grounds. This flight path puts them at 23,917 feet above sea level. University
of Exeter led study followed these birds to gain insight into their ability to
survive these extreme altitudes in hopes that their findings might have future
implications for low oxygen medical conditions in humans. The international team of scientists tracked the migration of the bar-headed
goose across the Himalayas. They have shown how these birds are able to
tolerate running at top speed while breathing only 7% oxygen.
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Exercising at high altitude is a massive challenge since at the top of
the highest mountains the air is only made up of 7% oxygen, compared with 21%
at sea level. This is why human climbers often use supplemental oxygen when
scaling the world’s tallest peaks.
Dr. Lucy Hawkes of the University of Exeter led the study, along with
colleagues Dr. Charles Bishop (Bangor University) and Prof. Pat Butler
(University of Birmingham). They tested how good the geese were at coping with
exercise in reduced oxygen environments by simulating the conditions of Mount
Everest in a clear box and then getting the birds to run as fast as possible on
a treadmill inside the box.
They
discovered that the geese had a remarkable tolerance of low oxygen conditions —
at rest and while they were exercising for 15 minutes at top speed — at oxygen
levels that would render most humans completely immobile. The researchers also
conducted the experiments with the barnacle goose, which migrates at sea-level,
and found that they did not have the same ability in low oxygen conditions.
Dr. Lucy
Hawkes, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the
University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus, said: “It all seems to come down to how
much oxygen bar-headed geese can supply to their heart muscles. The more they
can supply, the faster they can beat their hearts and keep the supply of oxygen
to the rest of the body going. This suggests that other species, including
humans, are limited more by what our hearts can do than by how fit the rest of
our muscles are at altitude.”
Dr.
Hawkes, formerly of Bangor University, added: “The wider implications of these
findings are for low oxygen medical conditions in humans, such as heart attack
and stroke — suggesting what adaptations might help prevent problems in the
first place and learning how animals have managed to cope with really extreme
environments.”
Read more at the University of Exeter.
Bar-headed geese image via Shutterstock.
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