Today in History - February 12 | Thirty million people die after ill-fated war on sparrows
February 12
The government of China issued a directive on February 12, 1958, leading to the extinction of sparrows in the country.
As part of leader Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward, China's Central Committee announced the Four Pests campaign, aimed at wiping out rats, flies, mosquitoes and sparrows.
Sparrows were blamed for eating nearly 2kg a grain per bird every year, and killing them was seen as a way to boost agricultural productivity.
The birds were poisoned, killed with slingshots, or tormented with loud noises so they avoided landing for long they died of exhaustion.
The war on sparrows was a huge success, wiping out the birds across China.
But the ramifications were huge. Sparrows were the primary predator of locusts, which ate grain far more voraciously.
The famine which began during the Great Leap Forward is estimated to have killed as many as 30 million people.
In 1931 he was installed as a puppet leader of Japanese-controlled Manchuria, a role for which he was despised by locals.
He spent much of that time as a virtual prisoner in his palace, but that did not stop him carrying out wanton acts of cruelty on servants.
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