Burns night is not long past, and the annual feast of Haggis is at an end. However, until this year, nobody told me that the the wild population of Haggis is practically extinct. In fact the Haggis I ate this year was made by Tescos, and while delicious was in fact synthetic (no stomach lining, only a plastic skin). It appears that the popularity of Haggis meat is leading to depletion of the wild stocks. An alternative involves farming Haggii in captivity, however this comes with its own problems. Happily, it now looks like there is hope for lovers of Haggis everywhere. The Veterinary Record ran a special article entitled “Applications of ultrasonography in the reproductive management of Dux magnus gentis venteris saginati” last week, in which a group of industrious researchers outlined some recent work that will hopefully lead to better welfare and productivity in farmed haggis populations. Ignobel is running another article on it here. (thanks Graeme.)