Foxes drafted to fight hosts of rats
Source: Xinhua |
July 29, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ON a verdant green prairie in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a silver fox launches itself through the air at a rat like a cruise missile, pinning its prey with uncanny accuracy.
Authorities in Xinjiang have mobilized an army of specially-bred and trained silver foxes to combat a destructive plague of rats.
This year, about 55,000 square kilometers of grasslands, or more than 10 percent of the total coverage in Xinjiang, has been overrun by disease-infested rats.
The rats have ravaged the grasslands, eating grass roots and damaging the prairies with underground digging, according to the regional locust and rat control headquarters.
"Foxes are excellent natural predators of the rodent. One fox can catch about 20 rats per day," said Ni Yifei, deputy head of the headquarters.
"There has been a decline in the rat population in several counties where the measure has been adopted."
The headquarters set up a fox training base in 2004 and has trained an army of 284 foxes that have been released into the wild.
The experiment has reduced the number of rats in the nearby area by 70 percent and the number of burrows per hectare of land has dropped from 50 to 15, the autonomous region's department of animal husbandry said.
The fox breeding and training base was established with 800,000 yuan (US$118,000) of government funding.
The base started the breeding program with 20 silver foxes bought from a fur farm.
Ni said the silver fox was chosen to be the rat fighter for its distinctive ability to run, hunt and live under the harsh living conditions on the prairie.
The fox army is not alone in the fight. The government has also trained and deployed eagles, birds, chickens, ducks and wolves to keep the rat numbers down.
"It is a green way to tackle the rat problem," said Lin Jun, head of the headquarters.
However, the biological control of the rat plague is being tried in only a few areas.
"China mainly relies on poisons to kill rats," Lin added.
In addition to Xinjiang, rats are threatening grasslands in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Authorities in Xinjiang have mobilized an army of specially-bred and trained silver foxes to combat a destructive plague of rats.
This year, about 55,000 square kilometers of grasslands, or more than 10 percent of the total coverage in Xinjiang, has been overrun by disease-infested rats.
The rats have ravaged the grasslands, eating grass roots and damaging the prairies with underground digging, according to the regional locust and rat control headquarters.
"Foxes are excellent natural predators of the rodent. One fox can catch about 20 rats per day," said Ni Yifei, deputy head of the headquarters.
"There has been a decline in the rat population in several counties where the measure has been adopted."
The headquarters set up a fox training base in 2004 and has trained an army of 284 foxes that have been released into the wild.
The experiment has reduced the number of rats in the nearby area by 70 percent and the number of burrows per hectare of land has dropped from 50 to 15, the autonomous region's department of animal husbandry said.
The fox breeding and training base was established with 800,000 yuan (US$118,000) of government funding.
The base started the breeding program with 20 silver foxes bought from a fur farm.
Ni said the silver fox was chosen to be the rat fighter for its distinctive ability to run, hunt and live under the harsh living conditions on the prairie.
The fox army is not alone in the fight. The government has also trained and deployed eagles, birds, chickens, ducks and wolves to keep the rat numbers down.
"It is a green way to tackle the rat problem," said Lin Jun, head of the headquarters.
However, the biological control of the rat plague is being tried in only a few areas.
"China mainly relies on poisons to kill rats," Lin added.
In addition to Xinjiang, rats are threatening grasslands in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
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