120 Million Birds Killed in Zimbabwe to Save Wheat

Zimbabwe has destroyed about 120 million red-billed quelea birds to avert one of the gravest threats ever posed to the country’s wheat belt.

Scientists say the three-month operation, which recently ended, saved vast fields of wheat menaced by the grain-gobbling birds.

The slaughter also proved a boon to thousands of villagers who feasted on roast quelea, a delicacy for many Africans. And some entrepreneurs carted the carcasses off to market, earning more money in a few weeks than they normally would make in a year.

The quelea, which belongs to the sparrow and weaver family, destroy thousands of tons of grain crops throughout Africa every year.

It is reputedly the most destructive bird in the world, particularly to such crops as millet, rice, sorghum and wheat. A million-strong flock can destroy 10 metric tons of grain in a day, contributing to the continent’s chronic food shortages.