China faces earthworm wipeout as rampant growth in electro-harvesting threatens ecosystem

In dried form the worms are known as ‘dry-soil dragon’ in traditional medicine remedies and when wet are highly sought after as bait by fishing enthusiasts

Experts say hundreds of thousands of electric shock equipment sets are being sold nationwide sparking a legal crackdown to protect the environment

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Demand for dried earthworms has caused huge price rises in China and prompted people to use gadgets to electrocute worms in the ground. Photo: Handout

Published: 9:00am, 11 Jun 2022

China is facing an extinction-level ecological disaster due to a huge rise in the electrocution of earthworms in the soil to harvest them as ingredients used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

Environmentalists say that the practice – which threatens the earthworm population and the wider soil ecosystem – is driven by ever-growing demands of the TCM industry and the use of worms as bait for fishing.

The demand has seen the intensive harvesting of earthworms become rampant across the mainland over the past decade.

Dried earthworms – known colloquially as “dry soil dragon” – are an important ingredient in TCM. They are also highly sought after as bait for fishing enthusiasts.

Dried earthworms are used in traditional Chinese medicine. In recent years, as their price has continued to rise, sales of a machine called an electric earthworm machine have also increased. Photo: CCTV

To facilitate the burgeoning harvesting industry, gadgets with names such as “Soil Dragon Machine” or “Earthworm Electrocuting Machine” have appeared on the market and cost anything between 100 and 800 yuan (US$15-US$120) online. An investigative report by state broadcaster CCTV found that some outlets had sold more than 100,000 such units.