US and Canada gear up for another Asian ‘murder hornet’ season

Authorities say invasive species can pose risk to animals and insects, including honeybees, and must be eradicated.

Montreal, Canada – While its “murder hornet” moniker draws international attention, Paul van Westendorp prefers to compare the Asian giant hornet to a polar bear. “The polar bear is very fierce and is dangerous in its environment, but the chances that you and I would ever run into one is pretty low,” he told Al Jazeera in a phone interview from the Canadian province of British Columbia. “It is the same with this particular hornet.” Also like polar bears, Van Westendorp, a provincial apiculturist with the BC government, said the hornets are apex predators that sit atop the food chain.