This surprising fact was initially聽discovered聽by聽researchers聽at the Bronx Zoo who compared twenty-three different perfumes鈥� abilities to attract tigers鈥� attention. One of the least successful was Est茅e Lauder鈥檚 Beautiful聽which kept cats occupied only for 2 seconds. Revlon鈥檚 Charlie聽worked for 15.5 seconds, Nina Ricci鈥檚 L鈥橝ir du Temps聽for 10.4 minutes, but the clear winner was Calvin Klein鈥檚 Obsession for Men聽which kept the cats concentrating on it for 11.1 minutes.聽
It turned out that the zoo researchers weren鈥檛 the only ones interested in attracting big cats to specific locations.聽Field researchers聽in Guatemala and Nicaragua have started using the perfume to attract jaguars to their field cameras. The scent聽entices聽the cats to rub their chin and cheeks on whatever item has been sprayed. Scientists are then able to grab the hairs left behind for research purposes.聽
The reason cats are crazy for this eau de toilette is thought to be civetone, the compound used to achieve its characteristic musky smell. Civetone, the smelly component of civet oil, is the pheromone of the , a cute little animal native to the woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa. Once upon a time, civet oil had to be extracted from the perineal glands of the creatures, but thankfully nowadays it can be synthesized from palm oil.聽
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