6. Sparrows Were Nearly Exterminated in China
China’s communist government described birds as “public animals of capitalism“, and posters were plastered all across the country to encourage the masses to wipe out sparrows in particular. Millions of young and old, armed with sticks, stones, slingshots, and noisemakers, fell upon birds in general, and upon sparrows in particular, and went after them with a will. In what the authorities termed the “Smash Sparrows” or “Eliminate Sparrows” campaign, the birds were slaughtered wherever they were found, on the ground, in trees or bushes, or in the air.
The public responded with enthusiasm to the Chinese government’s propaganda campaign. Sparrow nests were destroyed, their chicks killed, and their eggs smashed. To keep them from any rest, groups were organized throughout China to loudly beat drums, gongs, pots and pans, until the tiny birds dropped dead from exhaustion. The relentless campaign brought sparrows to the brink of extinction. Only then was it realized, way too late, that the plan to wipe them out might have been a bad idea.
