Stop Wildlife Poisoning

Category: Pesticides | Date: Jun 26 2008 | By: Martin Odino

In Isiolo and Maralal districts of Kenya, whose inhabitants are mostly pastoralist communities, carnivore-domestic livestock encounters are known to occur virtually on a daily basis. The local Borana, Somali and even Turkana lament of crippling losses of their livestock. Initial conversation with these people gives one the impression that they only look on and cannot do much. This was during my survey in the region in May 2008. My conversation soon grew cordial with three pastoralists at the local livestock market and in a matter of time, they opened up. They revealed using a sugar-like, medium grained, crystalline substance. They apply this on the killed goat, sheep or cow before laying it out as bait mostly to lions and hyenas. While doing this, they cover their mouths and noses and ensure they are upwind because they say the substance is lethal even when just inhaled.

I have never seen strychnine in my life but from reading a little and what I have heard one local conservationist say, this would be my guess. But strychnine is categorized as a highly restricted chemical. Indeed the pastoralists admit the chemical is much scarce nowadays but those who use it to poison carnivores claim that they either steal it or get it through ‘backdoor’ means.

The neighbouring Meru people to Isiolo district are predominantly crop farmers. These use furadan as a pesticide on their crops. I however also observed that the Somali, Borana and Turkana are embracing crop farming. I talked to a few in the small vegetable and maize-cultivated plots in the seasonal wetlands. They said they have welcomed the practice as fashion. I could not however stop feeling the imminent surge of carnivore mortality catastrophe. Crop farming practice is likely to lead to the discovery of furadan. With enlightment and through experiment, the nematicide could soon assume the role of an effective carnivore poison as has been observed in other places such as Kajiado district.

Many factors against carnivore survival are in play here: strychnine (if I am right it is strychnine) is in effect as carnivore poison; livestock predation stands at high rates; and soon furadan may be discovered and be used in wiping out the carnivore community whose members are all suspect of being behind the livestock killings by virtue of being carnivores. Progressive biodiversity loss is happening here when you read Simon Thomsett’s revelaton when I shared with him my findings, “…You have stepped onto an old battle field. You see no bodies, hear no guns. Yet a whole environment has collapsed 20 years before. The whole of Isiolo, from Lewa, Meru, Embu, Samburu, Shaba, Ol donyo Sabache, Wamba, Mathew’s was my old hunting ground back in the late 1970s and early 80s. I returned back in 1992-95, but saw a shadow of what I rembered. It had all been poisoned. I lived in Ol Donyo Sache (Ololokokwi) for 7 years, not a shamba in site…….but poisoning was routine. Note the loss of vulture colonies all the way through Laisamis to Marsabit. You see the cliffs, you see the shit, but you see no vultures.” Only that this time the poisoning may get even more severe and accelerate the extirpation of the much reduced predator/scavenger numbers, much less than Simon saw, “…they have far less to kill today.”

What is the wisest thing a man would do if he walked home and found another shooting at his wife and children with a pistol with limited number of bullets? It then occurs to him that a machine gun is in his main house with numerous rounds of ammunition. If God spares your family this time, would you still risk having the machine gun in your house which in the first place you no longer use because the traumas of the war in which you used it made you vow never to use it ever again?

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Tags: strychnine