Mautam

Mautam (Mizo for "bamboo death") is a cyclic ecological phenomenon that occurs every 48 years in the northeastern Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, which are thirty percent covered by wild bamboo forests, as well as Chin State in Burma, particularly Hakha, Thantlang, Falam, Paletwa and Matupi Townships. One of its stages involves a rat boom, which in turn creates a widespread famine in those areas.