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Watch Out, Illegal Immigrants! China’s Goose Army Is Guarding Its Borders Against COVID-19!
Doris de Luna
China remains purely determined for its country to become Zero-COVID.
And it has sent one of its fiercest armies to guard 300 miles of the Chongzuo border in Guangxi: 500 geese.
Photo: YouTube/New China TVGeese are cheap since they have a very simple diet and do not require training. And yet, even from ancient times, these bird species were known to have saved Rome from the Gaul invasion in 390 B.C.
China Sends Geese to Protect Its Borders Against Immigrants Who Might be Infected with COVID-19
China, where COVID-19 originated, has not been quick in enlisting geese as part of its army. Of course, they had to test the skills of these domesticated birds first.
Obtaining a small flock of geese from nearby farms in June 2021, they stationed the gaggle in an area in Guangxi and observed the birds. In the experiment, they found out that geese are very sensitive to strangers and are noisier than dogs.
Photo: YouTube/New China TVNot long after, a gaggle of 500 geese was assigned as permanent watch along the country's border with Vietnam with mixed-breed dogs as their reinforcement.
Could these birds really be depended on for security?
Lauren Thielen, a doctor of veterinary medicine who has worked with domestic geese at the Texas Avian and Exotics Hospital outside Dallas, believes so.
“If you walk onto geese's turf, they will almost charge you, honk, and use intimidation tactics, versus running away like most birds,” Thielen told National Geographic in an email. “I have seen this with both wild Canada geese protecting their babies, as well as domestic Chinese geese protecting their environment. I always think of them as bossy birds.”
Geese, wild and domestic, are found in all parts of the world except Antarctica. There are an estimated 30 species of wild goose, and most of them have very keen eyesight. These birds are also capable of using and controlling each eye separately, which enables them to have a wider perspective.
Photo: YouTube/New China TVGeese can also sleep with one eye open, its side of the brain remaining awake, which is a rare phenomenon called unihemispheric slow-wave sleep, according to Petr Glazov, chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Goose Specialist Group. "They are always in control of the situation. Dogs can sound the alarm sometimes just for fun or to talk together from dog to dog. But geese will only do so if there’s an intruder that goes into their special area."
The Fierceness of Geese as Loyal Guards Is Recorded in History
“The goose is carefully watchful; witness the defense of the capitol when the silence of the dogs would have betrayed nothing.”
Photo: YouTube/New China TVThose were the words of Roman author Pliny the Elder, who wrote about the secret Gaul invasion in 390 B.C.E. and how Rome had triumphed over them with the help of a gaggle of geese.
There was another gaggle that was known as the Scotch Watch, which patrolled 14 acres of warehouses in Dumbuck, Scotland, where there was 300 million pounds' worth of Scottish whisky, from 1959 until 2012.
Then, in 1986, the U.S. Army assigned 18 geese to West Germany to safeguard radar and anti-aircraft installations. It was a very successful mission, resulting in the Army's conscription of 900 more geese for service.
Who knows if China will succeed to become Zero-COVID with the help of these amazing birds?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7qXWIxxd4I
