The use of human hair in green technology to reduce human-wild hog conflict from the agricultural perspective

^1,3 Department of Water and Environmental Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia  
^2,5 Institute of Environmental and Water Resource Management, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
⁴ Department of Quantity Surveying, Faculty of Built Environment, Tunku Abdul Rahman Universiti College, Jalan Genting Kelang, 53300 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: nursuraya@utm.my

Abstract

Human scalp hair (HSH) waste has often dumped without undergoing any proper treatment or even being reused. Past studies related to this waste in Malaysia is still not as wide as in others countries. However, in some rural areas, this waste is still used by farmers as pest controller to protect plantation from wild hog attacks. Unfortunately, the past practices does not expose their effectiveness as repellent. This study briefly discuss on the human-wild hog conflict, current practices used to control the invasive activity and to share the result of using HSH as repellent to help farmer of small orchid in Muar, Johor. In this pilot study, HSH were washed using the non-ionic detergent-acetone method as prior treatment to remove all impurities that might stick on them. In order to increase the probability of visitation, fermented corn bait has been used to lure the wild hog into the target area. Four (4) samples (A) 5kg whole corn; (B) 5kg whole corn mixed with 20g HSH; (C) 5kg whole corn mixed with 40g HSH; and (D) 5kg whole corn mixed with 60g HSH have been set on the private orchid and observed. The 5-day test indicates the potential of HSH as temporary wild hog repellent.