In a controversial action aimed at restoring ecological balance, in March 1960, the Royal Air Force dropped 23 cats by parachute over the remote villages of Vario, in Sarawak (Malaysia), to combat a rat infestation caused by the massive use of DDT against malaria. This unique operation sought to restore the broken ecological balance caused by an insecticide that, while eradicating mosquitoes, also decimated the cats and triggered a health and agricultural crisis.
The origin of chaos: DDT, mosquitoes, and poisoned cats
The story dates back to the 1950s when the World Health Organization (WHO) promoted the use of DDT to eradicate malaria. In Sarawak, then a British colony, houses were sprayed with this insecticide, reducing the parasite-carrying mosquitoes from 35.6% to 1.6% between 1953 and 1955. However, the poison accumulated on the walls poisoned the cats that, by licking their fur, suffered fatal neurological damage.
“There were reports of cats dead from exposure to DDT in Thailand, Bolivia, and Mexico. In Oaxaca, they were even called cat killers,” details the transcription. The absence of felines allowed the rat population to multiply, devouring rice crops and threatening to spread typhus and plague.
Brave rats and endangered crops
The rodent plague reached critical levels. A pair of rats and their offspring could generate 1,500 descendants in a year, according to data from the time. The damage to rice fields was devastating: they ate seeds, sprouts, and grains, weakening embankments with their tunnels. Max Porran, a British officer in Vario, recounted how a rat made a hole in his pillow while he slept: “It was collecting material for its nest.”
The initial theory attributed the problem to the lack of rat poison, but subsequent analyses confirmed that the DDT in dead cats had lethal concentrations. “Although direct causality was not proven, logic pointed to the insecticide,” the account states.
Operation Feline: Parachutes, beer, and feline resistance
On March 13, 1960, a Blackburn Beverly plane took off from Singapore with an unusual cargo: baskets with live cats tied to parachutes. The mission, coordinated with firefighters and locals from Kuching the “City of Cats,” faced climatic and logistical obstacles. “The cats resisted going back into their baskets; there was a bit of a struggle, but the humans prevailed,” the source describes.
Along with the cats, 4 boxes of strong beer and medicinal alcohol for local leaders were dropped. Despite clouds and detours to Brunei, the cats landed safely. “Nothing broke. The military knew exactly how to drop fragile items,” the text emphasizes.
Relative success and unexpected lessons
Although some reports exaggerated figures —like mentioning 14,000 cats—, official documents confirm 23 cats sent. The Straits Times reported in April 1960 that, in order to achieve an ecological balance, “the rats disappeared thanks to the army of sky cats.” However, not all attempts were successful: in 1965, Australian troops in Borneo saw how giant rats killed 5 cats.
DDT also altered other ecosystems: moths devoured thatched roofs when their natural predators disappeared, and birds like pelicans and eagles suffered mass poisoning. “The shells of their eggs thinned until they broke,” the text explains.
Legacy of a controversial solution for ecological balance
The operation in Vario was not isolated. Since 1953, the Royal Air Force dropped cats by parachute in areas like Perak and Kalimantan. Some, like two cats dropped from 1,006 meters in 1960, “landed happily, licked their paws, and walked away,” according to witnesses.
Over time, improvements in roads and pest control methods made aerial drops obsolete. However, this peculiar strategy remains a reminder of the unforeseen effects of human intervention in nature and how creative —sometimes absurd— solutions can emerge from complex crises.
