Indian Air Force officials have come up with a rather unusual idea to contain the blue bull (antelope) menace at their Bakshi-ka-Talab air base on the outskirts of Lucknow.

"The area around the air force station is infested with blue bulls, which even venture onto the runway posing a danger to movement of aircraft. Even vehicular traffic within our campus is affected. All our efforts so far to contain this menace have failed," an IAF official said.

So, they have decided to litter Tiger excreta, obtained from the Lucknow Zoo, around the runaway and other open areas at the base.

"We have been told that the smell of tiger droppings will keep blue bulls away," the IAF official said.

"The IAF is sending its vehicles to collect the faecal matter," zoo director Eva Sharma told rediff.com. "The exercise began on Tuesday, and I have asked them to apprise me of the results since I have never heard of any such experiment elsewhere," she added.

More reports from Uttar Pradesh