Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

It is said that there are 400 species of mammals in China and 150 species of them are rodents, of which 25-30 species of rodents are usually considered serious pests. Large amounts of grassland, forests, and agricultural crops are destroyed or seriously damaged every year. There is no accurate estimation of the total loss. The first acute rodenticides used for rodent control were white arsenic and yellow phosphorus. These have now been replaced by more suitable chemicals. Acute rodenticides have had a relatively long history of use in China and have played a very important role in rodent pest control. But, at the moment, some of them are becoming a subject of heated dispute and the target of public criticism. Therefore, people follow with interest the development of debate and pay close attention to the future and destiny of acute rodenticides. In this paper, I briefly look back at the history of acute rodenticides used in China and evaluate their achievements and errors.