Police dogs given the bird by `sharp, keen and brave` alternative force of nature

Police are proving that a popular character in the best traditions of pantomime is more than a “flight of fancy” when it comes to crime fighting.

In the season of goodwill to all men, women (and poultry), the goose takes centre as the layer of ‘golden eggs’.

It is also making a revival on the festive table where it once reigned supreme in every household, proving it is “not just for Christmas, but for life”.

And its value is soaring in more important areas, according to law enforcement agencies in China this year.

Police in the world`s largest populated country say geese are proving themselves “better than dogs” in tackling crime, describing them as a new “highlight of stability maintenance work”.

“Among all poultry, geese are known for being extremely vigilant and having excellent hearing,” Zhang Quansheng, a police chief officer in Xinjiang’s Shawan county says.

The “sharp, keen and brave” animals were proving an invaluable tool in rural Xinjiang’s war on crime and were now being “actively promoted” across the region, according to The People’s Daily.

“Geese are very brave. They spread their wings and will attack any strangers entering someone’s home,” said Mr Zhang.

The birds were like “a radar that does not need power”, he added.

“In some ways, they are more useful than dogs. A household normally keeps one dog but an intruder can throw a drugged bun to kill the dog. Geese are normally kept in groups and they have poor eyesight at night making it very difficult for intruders to [poison them].”

Authorities in Shawan say the new recruits have at least brought a measure of security to the troubled region.

In June, one gaggle of police geese reportedly managed to snare a man who had broken into the local police headquarters to take a motorbike, The People’s Daily reported.

After drugging two police dogs and climbing over the wall, the man was about to make his getaway when he came face-to-face with some 20 feathered “gatekeepers.”

“The geese fanned their wings and began shrieking when they saw the stranger. The duty officer woke up and the thief was caught red-handed.”

Xinjiang is one of China’s most volatile regions. In recent years the province has suffered repeated outbreaks of inter-ethnic violence between Han Chinese and Uighurs, a mostly Muslim, Turkic-speaking group who make-up nearly half of the province’s 22 million population.

Tensions between the two groups have been running high since 2009, when nearly 200 lives were lost during rioting in Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi.

Last month there was renewed violence when at least 35 people died during confrontations in Turpan, around 140 miles from the capital.

Beijing blamed the killings on religious “extremists” and “terrorists” and Zhang Chunxia, the provincial party chief, ordered Xinjiang’s security forces and law enforcement agencies to launch “a high-pressure attack” on those responsible.