The figure sends shivers down your spine. Five million Quelea Quelea – small red-billed birds – have been exterminated in Tanzania to protect rice fields, the national plant and pesticide watchdog said on Wednesday. And this, in a week. According to the Tanzania Plant Protection and Pesticides Authority (TPHPA), these birds, which were found in the Manyara region in the north of the country, threatened more than 400 hectares of commercial crops. “We are monitoring other areas,” insisted Joseph Ndunguru, director general of TPHPA.
Quelea Quelea, or Red-billed Workers, which travel in large groups, have in the past wreaked havoc on crops in Africa, with invasions usually occurring at the start of the dry season in September and October. Joseph Ndunguru said the agency targeted the swarms with aerial spraying, including drones, over a four-day period, killing them before they damaged rice fields in northern Tanzania.
According to the TPHPA, birds are capable of destroying more than 50 tons of food crops in a single day. In 2013, Uganda exterminated 1.8 million Quelea Quelea, also to protect rice fields, which provoked the ire of environmental defenders.