The locusts(蝗虫) in East Africa continue plaguing(造成麻烦) Asian countries such as Pakistan after they "visited" Qatar, Kuwait，and Bahrain.
On Thursday, it's reported that China will send an army of 100, 000 ducks to Pakistan to help eat out the locusts there. By Thursday noon, the 100, 000 ducks ready to eat locusts in Pakistan has been one of the hottest topics of Sina Weibo.
There has been much discussion on domestic social media(国内社交媒体) networks about the problem. Besides ducks, many also suggest sending hens, while some make it further by suggesting catching the locusts, to cook and eat them.
The hen and duck strategy was used in 2000 when Xinjiang suffered its worst locust plague. An army of about 700, 000 hens, roosters and ducks were transported from Zhejiang Province to Xinjiang and helped defeat the locusts quickly.
However, neither the duck nor hen strategy can always be useful. Hens and ducks are good at picking locusts and eating them, but this time the locusts from Africa are mostly grown-up ones that can fly up to 2, 000 meters in the sky. It is unrealistic to expect hens or ducks to eat all the locusts alone.
The best way of controlling a locust plague lies in the preventive(预防的) stage. One opinion among scientists is that the locust plague this year has much to do with the EI Nino effect of 2019, which caused heavier rainfall in East Africa, which in turn resulted in more locust eggs hatching.
The same effect caused droughts(干旱) in Australia and South America, which is an important reason why the wildfires in Australia have been so bad. It might be old talk, but it really is time to control climate change.
