Chinese Military Adopt Monkeys To Combat Bird Menace

During war time on more than one occasion animals have answered the call of duty. Mongolian horses for example transported Genghis Khan and his hordes into battle. Elephants carried Hannibal and his troops over the Alps into Italy and the dogs of war are faithful servants playing the role of sentries, trackers and dog scounts.

The macaque monkey is the latest conscript into China’s People’s Liberation Army and serves to protect an air base from the presence of birds according to a report in the Washington Post.

The air base has long suffered a flock of birds which can cause catastrophic accidents when they get sucked into engine. In a 2009 passenger plane crash into the Hudson River, a bird strike was blamed and was just one of countless accidents they have caused.

Military personnel have trained the monkeys to climb the air base trees and destroy any birds nests they find. The airbase has tried a variety of strategies to combat the menace including firecrackers, scarecrows, and nets all of which were to no avail because the birds simply returned to their nests days later.

The monkeys are certainly earning their keep the Chinese military says. By whistle command the primates climb up the trees and destroy the birds nest and so far the troupe of macaques have destroyed over 180 nests and the birds so far have not returned.