Insects Pose Grave Threat to Chinese Grasslands
Date: 10-Aug-04
Country: CHINA
Nearly 75,000 hectares (185,000 acres) of grasslands in five counties and cities were being attacked by the insects, an official with the local livestock and grassland protection department said.
"The plague is the most harmful over the past 20 years," the official, Wang Wei, was quoted as saying.
"The population density in some place even reaches to 220 insects per square meter," he said.
Experts predicted 20,000 domestic animals would face difficulty surviving the winter because of the insect attack, Wang said.
Insects had eaten almost all of the grass in three towns in Maqu County, dubbed "the best natural meadow in Asia," Xinhua said.
In 2000, bugs only devoured about 47,000 hectares (116,000 acres), it said.
If the growth in the amount of grasslands being eaten by bugs in southern Gansu is not stopped, the region's entire grasslands will be under threat in about 12 years, it said.
"If no effective measures were taken to bring insect pests under control, the security of the grassland ecosystem and herdsmen' lives will be threatened," another official said.
