Duck trivia:China once sent 30,000 ducks to exterminate locusts

In May 2000, a large plague of locusts occurred in the northern part of xinjiang, China. In addition to the use of chemical drugs, a “biological force” composed of flocks of chickens and ducks also showed their skills in the “locust war” in xinjiang.

At that time, after the communication of the provincial academy of agricultural sciences, zhejiang province changxing county, Lin cheng town, tianping village of large duck Yang dayuan raised 30,000 “duck soldiers” as the elimination of locusts “soldiers” boarded the plane in batches, airlifted to xinjiang disaster areas.

After 100,000 ducks from zhejiang joined in the battle in xinjiang grassland, the effect was obvious. By the end of August of that year, at least one million acres of high-quality grassland in xinjiang had been wiped out by ducks. The duck became the hero of xinjiang’s “anti-locust disaster relief”.

The command office of locust control and rodent control in xinjiang pointed out at that time that ducks had strong locust catching ability, large amount of prey and strict military discipline.

It is worth mentioning that, according to the local herders, the scene of ducks eating locusts is very interesting. On the meadow, where the duck’s paw trod, the locust sprang up one after another, and the duck pecked in the air with its spring-like flexible neck, as if a master of martial arts had caught a fly with his chopsticks.

“The ducks eat twice a day. At four or five o ‘clock in the morning, as soon as it becomes clear, they go out to eat locusts by themselves. After a few hours, they go to the nearby creek and gully to drink water and rest. One duck can eat more than 100 locusts at a time.” Ma yonggang, a herdsman who raised ducks for the first time, was surprised by their discipline. “ducks are so self-conscious that I hardly need to bother,” he said.