Xinjiang using hungry birds to fight plague of voracious locusts

URUMQI - The Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has mobilized an army of chickens and other birds as an effective and environmentally friendly way to combat clouds of locusts along the China-Kazakhstan border.

The voracious locusts have infested more than 392,000 hectares of pasture in Tacheng prefecture along the border that already have been hit by a continuing drought and scorching heat in recent months, according to the local bureau of animal husbandry.

Since mid-June, the bureau has set up nesting areas made of brick in mountainous areas and grasslands to attract more than 50,000 migrating rosy starlings, a bird that preys on locusts and other grasshoppers.