BEIJING: Authorities have raised a “cat army” to tackle rodents destroying crops and pastureland around it in western China. They have also been using tons of poisonous repellents to combat the menace.

Pest control officials in Xinjiang province’s Bole city said they have caught 150 stray cats to tackle rats. The desperate measure comes in the wake of estimates that the rodents have hit 5.4 million hectares of farm and pastureland in the province.

The feline hunters have proved their worth as the number of rats and rat holes have come down drastically. The provincial government is considering the use of the strategy in other places of the region as well.

Overgrazing and killing of predators like foxes is seen as a major cause behind the menace. Pest control and forest officials have tried their best to make the stray cats, captured from places far from Bole city, comfortable in their new surroundings.

They have built pens for cats near water resources, Chinese media quoted forest worker Li Hua as saying. “In winter, when the minimum temperature drops to minus 30 degrees Celsius, they will stay in local herders' homes (who) will get government subsidies in return,” said Li.