China Scrambles Starling Squadrons to Fight Locusts
Date: 03-Aug-07
Country: CHINA
The far western region of Xinjiang is to raise starlings in artificial nests to create an "air force" of birds to catch locusts, which destroyed more than 3 million hectares (11,600 sq miles) of pasture every year, Xinhua said.
"Damage to pasture would fall by 70 percent if the squadrons were formed, saving 30 million yuan (US$4 million) in the first year," Li Jun, a local locust-control expert, was quoted as saying.
This year's extreme weather -- floods, lightning, landslides, drought and heatwaves -- has given rise to a variety of animal influxes.
In May in Xinjiang, crack forces of trained wolves, eagles and foxes were deployed to combat an outbreak of marauding rats, a problem that hit land around a flooded lake in east China last month.
China has a history of using unorthodox means to eradicate unwanted animals. Mao Zedong launched the "Four Pests" campaign during the Great Leap Forward in the 1950s, instructing citizens to kill flies, mosquitoes, rats and sparrows.