Xinjiang herders cry fowl in fight against locusts

The Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has mobilized an army of chickens and other birds as an effective and environmentally friendly way of combating swarms of locusts along the China-Kyrgyzstan border.

Some 2,200 chickens will be used to battle the invasive species for the first time in Wushi county, Aksu.

This year, about 3,867 hectares of grasslands in Wushi have been overrun by locusts, with the pests ravaging pastures, gorging on grassroots and forcing dozens of herding families to evacuate to more sustainable areas.