A swarm of stink bugs and a river of rats: why India’s flowering bamboo causes a crisis for humans
Mass bamboo flowering in Mizoram, India, triggers a cyclical rodent population explosion that devastates local rice crops. Despite the predictability of this ecological phenomenon, farmers and authorities struggle to mitigate the resulting famine and economic loss.
A black rat can gnaw through the large seed of the Melocanna bamboo. Photograph: PBS/Nova A black rat can gnaw through the large seed of the Melocanna bamboo. Photograph: PBS/Nova The age of extinction Trees and forests A swarm of stink bugs and a river of rats: why India’s flowering bamboo causes a crisis for humans Every few decades mass blooming in Mizoram’s forests causes a rodent boom – and devastation to crops. The cycle is well-known, so why aren’t farmers and authorities better prepared?
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