Farmers in Zhejiang Province are losing a war against an army of 150,000 hungry boars, which have ravaged crops and hurt people, because they are only allowed to fight back with clubs - partly because of the World Expo.

Hundreds of boars rushing down from mountainous areas is a common sight for many Zhejiang farmers. But the hogs have been more frequent and more ravenous this year, the Qianjiang Evening News reported yesterday.

The best weapon against boars are guns. In 2007, Zhejiang government encouraged a hog-hunt and controlled the situation soon.

But hunters' guns have been confiscated since April according to the country's weapon management laws. The authorities normally give them back by August. This year, they are keeping the weapons in storage until the World Expo in Shanghai wraps up.

A village official in Chun'an County said the boars destroyed over 7,500 kilograms of maize in July and August alone - about one third of his village's total yield for the year.

The hogs were also running amok in the rural areas around the cities of Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Wenzhou, and Quzhou.

Wang Chenghai, a local farmer, said he failed to harvest anything from 2007 to 2009. The hogs destroy everything once seeds start to sprout. He simply gave up all the farm land on the mountains this year.

But some have formed a special defense squad.

Wang Aichong, 63, a member of such a squad in Chun'an, was alone when he was the night watch of one hector of corn. He had spent every night in two months on the lookout, his only weapons a 1.5-meter-long club and an electric torch.

But these tools would hardly ward off an attack. Sometimes even striking drums and gongs can't scare the boars off, he told the newspaper.

Some villagers have set up traps, land mines, even electric fences to protect their crops, but local authorities banned these powerful means because they are too dangerous to people.

But the farmers have to suffer all the damages. Any compensation falls short of the loss, said Song Zhiqiang, a Chun'an forestry official.