What occurs during mautam?

According to tradition, the regular 48-year cycle of bamboo flowering, seeding, and death, called Mautam, spawns armies of rats, which come out of trees and underground burrows to indulge in the abundance of food.

What is the problem with rats in Mizoram?

Mizoram faces a unique problem of rats. At every 48 years a particular species of bamboo flowers after which the population of rats become tremendously high and this is referred as Rat Flood (Mautam or Bamboo Death). This rat flood destroys entire villages, crops and farm yields.

In what state of India does the Nova investigation begin?

Mizoram
We’ve got no hard data, just myth and fiction. We need facts. NARRATOR: Aplin’s quest to figure it out how it happens began months ago when he first came to the northeastern Indian state called Mizoram. It is a world apart, separated from the rest of India by Bangladesh.

In which year the great famine known as Mautam famine in Mizo history has occurred?

1959
In 1959, Mizo Hills was devastated by a great famine known in Mizo history as ‘Mautam Famine’ . The cause of the famine was attributed to flowering of bamboos which consequent resulted in rat population boom in large numbers.

What is special in flowering of bamboo?

This mass flowering phenomenon is called gregarious flowering. According to one hypothesis, mass flowering increases the survival rate of the bamboo population. The hypothesis argues that by flooding the area with fruit, there will still be seeds left over even if predators eat their fill.

What is Mautam in Mizoram?

Mautâm is a cyclic ecological phenomenon that occurs every 48–50 years in the northeastern Indian states of Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur, as well as in many places of Assam which are 30% covered by wild bamboo forests, and Chin State in Myanmar, particularly Hakha, Thantlang, Falam, Paletwa and Matupi Townships.

In which year Mautam famine devastated Mizo Hills?

True to their anticipation, the Mautam (famine) struck the Mizo hills district in 1959. The Assam government was taken totally by surprise at the rapidity of the events and the disaster that a single bam- boo flowering phenomenon could effect.

What is Rat file?

A remote access Trojan (RAT) is a malware program that includes a back door for administrative control over the target computer. RATs are usually downloaded invisibly with a user-requested program — such as a game — or sent as an email attachment.

How many years does a bamboo flower bloom?

The period between two gregarious flowerings is generally called the flowering cycle, and the flowering cycles of different bamboo species are variable. The flowering cycle of bamboo ranged from 3 to 150 years (Kurz, 1876; Janzen, 1976) (Table 3).

Does bamboo flower only once?

Bamboos grow vegetatively for a species-specific period before flowering, seeding and dying. Most bamboo plants flower only once in their life cycle. Some species of bamboo flower only once every 40 to 50 years.