In 1958, China's leader Mao Zedong launched a campaign to get rid of four pests that were thought to be causing harm to agricultural production. These pests were rats, flies, mosquitoes, and sparrows. The campaign, known as the "Four Pests Campaign," encouraged people to eliminate these pests by any means necessary.
The sparrow, in particular, was targeted as a major threat to food production. The government believed that sparrows were eating large amounts of grain and causing food shortages. As a result, millions of people across the country were mobilized to hunt and kill sparrows. The government even offered rewards for dead sparrows, which further encouraged people to participate in the campaign.
However, the sparrow hunt had unintended consequences. With the elimination of sparrows, the population of insects such as locusts and grasshoppers increased dramatically. These insects then began to consume even more crops than the sparrows had. The end result was a massive famine that lasted for several years and caused the deaths of millions of people.The "sparrow hunt" has since been criticized as a misguided and disastrous policy. Many people have pointed out that sparrows play an important role in the ecosystem as seed dispersers and as food for predators such as hawks and owls. By eliminating them, the Chinese government upset the balance of the natural world, leading to a catastrophic chain reaction.
