Scientists in Canada have turned their attention to reducing bovine burps, in a bid to save the environment.

Cows are said to cause three-quarters of the world's total methane emissions and have a major impact on global warming.

As a result, the Canadian scientists from the University of Alberta are trying to breed cows which do not burp as much.

Altering a cow's diets has already reduced their methane emissions by 25 percent, but now the boffins are looking at the genes responsible for methane rich burps.

It is hoped that a burp free cow could be just around the corner, not a sentence I ever envisioned myself typing.