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As bugs is the main vector, birds immediately come to mind, and of course quick googling brings significant recent bird population decline with among other reasons (chemicals, etc.) this destruction of birds and their nesting:

"Nighttime harvesting. Machines used to vacuum olives from trees at night can suck in and kill birds. This practice is used to preserve the olives' flavor, but it's a recent development that's harmful to birds."

It is kind of like getting rid of cats and after that wondering why so many rats and the plague, or the Cultural Revolution famine after that mass extermination of birds there.



>> or the Cultural Revolution famine after that mass extermination of birds

Sorry for the nitpick. I believe you are referring to the Four Pests campaign, which was part of the Great Leap Forward (1950s) rather than the Cultural Revolution (1960s)


Thank you. Shame on me. I must be sent for a week to a reeducation camp.


If you knew the right answer but made a small mistake, then it's not a question of education but of concentration. Surely there must a special camp for that too.


> It is kind of like getting rid of cats and after that wondering why so many rats and the plague

or recently, in EU, we must kill the wolf, but the deer is eating the small trees in the forests.


But insect populations are also declining precipitously (e.g, 1), so killing birds might not have that much of an impact

1. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2023989118


you're comparing global decline of insects to removing birds and nests from those olive groves. It is like comparing global wealth growth to your failure to pay rent when you get laid off.




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