“The day they parachuted cats into Borneo!” Ecosystem Disaster

The end of the story… In the 1950's The World Health Organization (WHO) financed and supported the first ever team of over 14,000 parachuting cats into Borneo

Instructions: Work in pairs and try to arrange the following events in chronological order – based on the true events in Borneo. Rats brought plague Lizards ate roaches (with DDT) Cats died Caterpillar numbers went up WHO (World Health Organization) sent DDT to Borneo Mosquitoes were wiped out Caterpillars ate grass roofs Cats were parachuted in Cats caught lizards containing DDT Roaches stored DDT in their bodies Grass roofs collapse Lizards disappeared Lizards slowed down Rats increased

The Story: In the 1950's, the Dayak people of Borneo tragically suffered an outbreak of malaria, spread by mosquitoes. The World Health Organization (WHO), without thinking through all the consequences, sprayed the area with DDT to kill the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes died, malaria lessened and the people of Borneo were happy.

But then grass roofs on the villagers houses started to collapse But then grass roofs on the villagers houses started to collapse. It appeared that a parasitic wasp had previously been keeping a thatch-eating caterpillar under control and the DDT killed the wasps, meaning the caterpillars were free to eat as much as they wanted!

As if their houses falling in on them wasn’t enough – insects that had been poisoned by DDT were eaten by gecko lizards, which were then eaten by cats. The cats started to die from the poison, rats began to flourish, and the people were threatened by outbreaks of 2 NEW serious diseases: plague & typhus. WHO initiated Operation Cat Drop and the cats started parachuting. The people of Borneo gained new feline friends, the rat population declined and the people of Borneo were happy once more. The End.

The moral of the story: As Rachel Wynberg & Christine Jardine, Biotechnology and Biodiversity - Key Policy Issues for South Africa, 2000 said: "This is a graphic illustration of the interconnectedness of life, and of the fact that the root of problems often stems from their purported solutions." Source: www.flycatfly.com/Parachuting_Cats.html

Correct order of events WHO (World Health Organization) sent DDT to Borneo Mosquitoes were wiped out Caterpillar numbers went up Caterpillars ate grass roofs Grass roofs collapse Roaches stored DDT in their bodies Lizards ate roaches (with DDT) Lizards slowed down Cats caught lizards containing DDT Lizards disappeared Cats died Rats increased Rats brought plague Cats were parachuted in