Cash rewards to kill 400,000 rats

In India, north-eastern state of Mizoram has offered cash rewards for people to kill a population of an estimated 400,000 rats as widespread destruction of paddy crops by the ravenous rodents has sparked fears of a famine in the region,as per a news report "We are motivating villagers to kill rats and bring tails as evidence to local authorities," James Lalsianliana, the head of the state's rodent-control cell told, "We are awarding two rupees [5 cents] per rat killed."..........Read more.......Indian state offers cash rewards to kill 400,000 rats

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2.5 US Cents for every Rat tail

To control the problem of rats who can wipeout crops in the fields, government in Mizoram state of India is offering Indian Rupee one ( 2 1/2 U.S. cents) reward for every rodent tail that is given to its officials.

This is separate from a $25 reward for a Chawmnu, dead or alive. The Chawmnus are giant rats, each believed to be the size of a female pig which, according to unconfirmed local rumors, already are stalking some villages.

As to the other rats, their expected onslaught threatens nearly 500,000 farmers with famine in the tiny eastern state bordering Bangladesh and Myanmar. In an earlier invasion in 1958-59, the rats caused havoc on crops, rice paddies and village granaries.

The government reward campaign already has recorded more than 400,000 rat kills, evidenced by the tail pile.

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Elephants prefer Crops to Forest fodder

As per one government study in India, elephants over here prefer food crops to forest fodder and often travel hundreds of miles to the same farmland every year, even remembering specific months of harvesting.

Elephants were adapting to new foods as their traditional habitat was shrinking due to villagers encroaching in forests, experts said after a four-year study on Asian elephants in West Bengal state.

Elephants are migratory animals and move from one forest to another through corridors which are now fragmented due to villages and farmlands, conservationists say, making the animals change their habits.

"Villagers were cultivating crops right on their path and were responsible for the changing food habits of elephants," said Shakti Ranjan Banerjee of the Wildlife Protection Society of India.

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