The Kroger Zoo was looking for ways to attract their giant cats to the location of their cameras. In 2003, the zoo, via an experiment with a variety of perfumes and colognes, discovered that the Calvin Klein cologne, Obsession for Men, acts as a magnet for jaguars, cheetahs, and other big-cats, and could be used to lure them to their cameras. The heat-and-motion-sensor cameras at the zoo are used to study the cats.

It took them several years and 25 fragrances to finally discover that CK Obsession for Men was the way to go. While many scents drew and held the animals for only seconds or a few minutes, Obsession attracted the animals and held them in the area for more then 11 minutes.

Now, Obsession is widely used not only in zoos, but in the jungles, where it has helped produce breakthroughs in wildlife biology and conservation. For example, wildlife conservationists and biologists use the special fragrance to attract Jaguars of the Guatemalan jungle.

“In order to understand the Jaguar population and behavior, we must be able to observe them,” says biologist Markle, “It’s easier to get them to come to you, than for you to go to them. The cats just love the scent. We spray them on tree trunks and the ground, and the cats will rub up against the tree and roll all over the ground. It’s really fun to watch.”

The conservationists call this setup* a camera trap, where they bait the area with the scent in order to lure the animals to the cameras. These camera traps are set up* all around the world to help understand big-cat populations and behaviors. “It works on all the big-cat families,” says Orson Thwarp, “Lion, tigers, leopards, cougars—if its a big cat, they will come.”

Unfortunately, it’s not all* cute pictures that Obsession is used for. A tiger in India was responsible for killing 13 people. When the locals and government had trouble tracking and finding the dangerous tiger, they put out several traps using Obsession as bait. However, while the traps were being set-up, the tiger attacked the group of hunters before they could get the trap set. One of the hunters was able to get to his gun and shot and killed the man-eating tiger.

The good news—they all went home smelling nice.

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*setup – noun; “set up” – phrasal verb

* it’s not all [a good thing], followed by a negative thing.