The aftermath of the warm winter was a "baby boom" of rats in
April, a month in advance, said animal husbandry officials in Altay
Prefecture in northern Xinjiang.
The rats were threatening two million hectares of the
pastureland in Altay, about 20 percent of the total in northern
Xinjiang, and could cause epidemics among the locals, they
said.
The regional animal husbandry bureau based in Urumqi has been
forced to send two helicopters to spray 20 tons of raticide in the
worst-plagued areas over the past week to reduce the damage.
But officials said they had to be extra careful with raticide,
which polluted the environment and could also poison foxes and
eagles that preyed on rats.
The average temperature in Xinjiang during the past winter was
two to four degrees Celsius higher than normal, and snow in the
remote mountains in Altay shrank by at least 32 centimeters,
according to the regional meteorological bureau.
(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2007)
