The Chinese government has reportedly deployed 100,000 ducks to their border in anticipation of an impending locust invasion.
According to the country’s media outlets, the birds have been dispatched to the Xinjiang border where China meets Pakistan and India.
Videos obtained by Chinese state-run TV CGTN, and seen by this website, showed a multitude of the birds – now christened ‘duck troops’ – marching towards Xinjiang.
The locust invasion, which has also affected East African countries, is said to be causing havoc in India and Pakistan which now faces food shortage as most of their crops were destroyed.
The Pakistan government, led by Prime Minister Imran Khan, declared a national emergency, further calling the menace “the worst locust attack in decades.”
Desert locusts, according to a United Nations report, can travel up to 95 miles in a day and can eat their own body weight in plant material, meaning even a small swarm can consume as much food as 35,000 people in a day.
The United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) previously warned that the locusts could ravage more countries in Eastern Africa and threaten the livelihood of many more people.
The swarms, first sighted in December, have already destroyed tens of thousands of hectares (acres) of farmland in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, threatening food supplies in the worst locust invasion in 70 years.
