Forget rats. Chinese authorities in western China’s Xinjiang Province have an infestation of over one billion great gerbils on their hands, and no method they’ve used—from poison gas to contraceptive pills—seems to be working.
Though the great gerbil is in fact native to western China and Central Asia in general, recent climatic changes combined with human activity brought about its population explosion. Rodent “plagues” have occurred in Xinjiang before, but the ongoing episode was only acknowledged by Chinese state-run media after BBC and Reuters covered it first—back in 2003.
The problem has not gone away.
Capable of digging thousands of holes per square acre, great gerbils render large tracts of land unusable for farming, grazing, and sometimes even transport. Their subterranean activity destroys roots and, by weakening the earth, can even create dangerous traps for people and livestock crossing unawares on the surface above. Road and rail are also at risk as the very ground supporting them is eroded.
