Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 29 2008 | By: Martin Odino

More and more effects of the China milk poisoning are becoming apparent as more zoo animals get diagnosed with kidney stones. this ordeal seems set to last since it has apparently been a concealed agenda for a while.

Two orangutans (must be what were referred to as Gorrilas), aged one and three, and a lion cub are now reported to be showing signs of kidney stones after being fed the milk powder for more than a year!

The Mail Online edition reports the details in the story Now animals fall victim to China toxic milk scandal as officials admit cover-up during Olympics.

Tags: China, Lion, Mail Online, milk poisoning, Orangoutan

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 25 2008 | By: Martin Odino

It is finally right under our noses. A substance that kills man or animal, the other could just be a step away from falling victim as well. Two gorrilas are suspected to be the latest victims of the china Milk powder poisoning.Much as we have lacking information as far as the effects of eating carbofuran-poisoned fish and birds are concerned, a negative effect is surely a possibility, only that we are not able at the moment to quantify the degree of the negative impact on our Kenyan poisoned ,wild meat lovers. Losing our wildlife and consequently tourists on the other end would just be equivalent to more countries banning of goods from China. We have a grande lesson to learn from China!

Tags: , chna, gorrila, milk poisoning

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 24 2008 | By: Martin Odino

Hi,

I am just heading back to Nairobi from a place called Machakos, about 70km from Nairobi. One of Kenya’s 60 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) is found here and is known as Machakos IBA. I have a personal interest in this area; I have been monitoring a Wahlberg’s Eagle pair in the area for the last 3 years which comes in around August of every year and leaves by April of the next year. Wahlberg’s Eagle is an intra-African migrant raptor and also the smallest of the dark Eagles otherwise called Aquila eagles.

I have watched a number of wild animals in this area, especially in a local agricultural Institute center (Kenya Agricultural Research Institute-KARI) where I made reference to in an earlier post, ‘no poisoning here’. Bordering this area is the Athi-Kapiti plains with its wildlife ranches such as Hopkraft’s Ranch. It is in these plains that the worst of the recently vulture poisoning incidences took place and 187 of the species succumbed to poisoning in 2004. For a while I felt the research institute had every reason to boast a fairly intact habitat relative to the surrounding almost absolute natural habitat depleted neighbourhood. For another reason, I have seen vultures and other raptors pass over this area and sighed, “mmhh they must be confident the chances of coming across baited carcass in this area is minimum compared to the neighbouring Athi plains”.

Fairly intact vegetation on KARI.

The view from mid photo into background is cleared, settled and cultivated land.

It is in this research centre that the Wahlberg’s Eagles found a safe confine where to put up a nest and renovate it year in year out before laying their egg or two utmost. Naturally, only one young survives in case they were two hatchlings because of the phenomenon called canism which essentially is the killing of the weaker hatchling by the stronger. Canism is well explained in one post in Simon Thomsett’s blog. Unfortunately, for the last two years I have monitored the eagles, their nesting has always been a failure especially because intruders somehow always cut down the tree where the Eagles nest. I even went on to request for the large, high canopied trees to be closely monitored by the institute’s farm management which seem to be this small eagle’s favourite. However, today, in my morning scouting around the institute’s premises, I still realized this is on-going, though the tree that the eagles last put up their nest is still intact.

The eagles‘ nesting tree is the tallest in the photo.

Tree stump of recently felled tree

The birds literally left for their southerly bound journey (to Angola most probably where they spend their time when they are not around) without nesting, probably because of human disturbance or the time for their departure had just reached. Normally, they would be renovating the nest at about this time (September- October). Last breeding season, the tree on which they were nesting and were actually incubating in November 2007 was cut down. They ended up staying much longer and after identifying another tree, constructed a nest then left.

(Check the nests in the photo taken from the underside of the canopy. The one on the left was left. The one to the right might be the active one though dominant at the moment)

I was hopeful I would get them in their nest today especially when I heard a loud domestic chicken, chick-like quick squeals which I have heard them make while courting and nest-building but it was not them. I walked around avoiding disturbing them in case they were in the nest but actually they were not even in sight. I went back up the river valley and saw one individual airborne. At least they are around but may be this once safer haven no longer has hope for them especially after no nesting successes for the last 2 breeding seasons.

There is still evidence small game though. Dik diks, mongooses and hares are typical. Below are the crepuscular hare’s pellets/droppings, fresh from early morning deposition I would suppose.

I have observed a whole lot of variety of migrating birds stop over to replenish their energy packs before proceeding on south or north. These include the Pallid Harriers, Montagu’s Harriers, Black Storks, Red-backed Shrikes, Red-tailed Shrikes, Barn Swallows, Common House Martins just to mention but a few. All these roost and forage on the research institute’s grounds, but the whole lot of optimum conditions seem to be collapsing. Besides the human encroachment on the habitat, even the wetland has dried up! I never saw this wetland dry up completely even during the driest of the months. Global warming I would suppose. As a result, skulking coloured rock lizards on the rocky river bed are nowhere (I only saw one) whereas the once flowing river only has only a few pools of stagnated water. I wonder how the frogs are doing!

Dried up mud and surrounding rocky river bed where the river flowed out of the wetland

Drying up reeds

Remnant water pools

Generally, this wildlife haven just looks like it is going down.

Tags: eagle, frogs, global warming, habitat, lizards, migrants, raptors, Wahlberg’s Eagle, wetland, Wildlife

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Category: carbofuran | Date: Sep 22 2008 | By: Martin Odino

I am looking at a 200g pesticide pack just 15cm away on my desk. It is Furadan 5G.

In a workshop on pesticide externalities that I attended hardly a fortnight ago, it turned out that Furadan 5G is not ranked amongst the top ten most used pesticide in a sampled part of central Kenya. Central Kenya is an intensive crop production zone favoured by optmum climatic conditions. Due to small land sizes together with the entrepreneural nature of the native community who grow food crop for sell in the nearby country’s capital city Nairobi, pesticide use is high for maximum yields. It is amazing however that Furadan, an acclaimed effective nematicide is not ranked amongst the most used pesticides in the area.

In my first Furadan survey, I found 88% Furadan availability in the areas that I surveyed. These were mostly around Nairobi. This area is characterized by both pastoralist and crop farming activities areas, though these are markedly distinct. In summary I found out that the crop farmers knew little about Furadan compared to pastoralists. Now that this product is not in high use especially in the agricultural stronghold in the neighbourhood of Nairobi gives an option of its use in the not so far pastoralist neighbourhood. I am afraid this just a confirms my survey’s inference and the way I had wished I was wrong.

It is worrying to think that the sole purpose for which Furadan is meant for as an insect/nematode pesticide is becoming obsolete if it has not already. A killer’s ready preparation for poisoning?

Tags: crop farming, furadan, pastoralist, pesticide

3 responses so far

Category: Pesticides, carbofuran | Date: Sep 20 2008 | By: Martin Odino

A dog’s death is causing serious concern in Orleans! Though the poisoning ruling is based on clear symptoms by the dog suggesting anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning rather than toxicological analysis, this just shows how sensitive and animal welfare mindful the Orleans community is. We have lost at least 58 big cats amongst many other wildlife in hardly a decade and seemingly nobody is moved!

Recreating our blog’s banner below, poisoning defines the transition from rich, beautiful,living WILDLIFE to scary, dead WILDDEAD! This is where our insensitivity is taking us!

It is impressive that Health Canada has implemented a number of measures to guard the citizens as relates to rodenticide and pesticide use. In a number of areas in Kenya, poisoning of particularly birds is on-going at the ‘poachers’ expense. Kenyan bird meat consumers continue enjoying especially carbofuran-killed wild fowl meat without fear of toxic effects against them. I should fear a chemical that has a reputation of killing anything from a lion to the flies that suck the fluids effusing from the decomposing lion’s carcass. But I would not mind if a trial on the pesticide carbofuran baited bird going back to some years before many of my generation were born did not result in the death of the ‘guinea pigs’ then, who happened to be our parents’ generation. But where is the medical proof that they did or did not suffer from the effects of lethal carbofuran? Who knows if for sure somebody having died from severe diarrhoea did not contract the diarrhoea after a bite of poisoned meat, or the violent seizures that shook a juvenile to his death were not a violent epileptic feat, but the toxic effects of poisoned fowl after giving the child the lion’s share by its parents to boost his growth to a strong adult. Who even cares to tell them of the lethal effects of the chemicals anyway when the appointed bodies sit tight and complacent that the instruction labels are sufficient. What is more is that the instructions are lacking. Yet Kenyans are not a traditionally an English-speaking community. What of the storage and usage security? A frank statement by a user to the manufacturers, suppliers and distributors of pesticides, in essence poisons that “If we’re going to sell this stuff, we should make sure it’s sold to us properly with proper instructions,”

Reading on the Orleans’s poisoning story, one consumer/user acknowledges that relying on pesticide administration by individuals is not good enough. Kenya’s wildlife is at risk where it has sometimes become a ‘pest’ in certain instances such as where lions attack livestock etc. Yet again we have insufficient control of such cases thereby driving the livestock owners to act in anger and frustration in many cases ending up even in unintended wildlife target death.

One animal welfare personnel rules that the best way to avoid accidental poisoning is to avoid using poison altogether. Poisons are not a way to deal with wildlife. Though many fingers are rightly pointing to the manufacturers and pesticide issues custodians who have the herculean role to bring changes to this wildlife poisoning problem, we all have a role to play.

I am all set for a carcass collection at one target site in Kenya where poisoning is to happen quite soon. I know I will get casualties there and it is sad that I cannot stop it. It is sad that I will be getting samples to prove that Furadan is finishing our wildlife. It is painful that the pesticide custodians who should be the ones out there assessing the situation and doing everything right to control their pesticide product which has turned rogue will be awaiting for my findings only to challenge the finding’s credibility. I am worried that this evidence might only attain the status of being ‘enough’ after the only remaining lions are creeping on their bellies with lack of psychomotor coordination, all vultures will have fallen off the skies, while there will be no twilight laughter from the jovial hyenas!

Tags: Canada, Dog, hyenas, Lion, Orleans, Pest Management Regulatory Agent, poison, vultures

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Category: carbofuran | Date: Sep 18 2008 | By: Martin Odino

In August this year (2008) I had a noble opportunity of viewing Lake Naivasha’s biodiversity from a fisherman’s view. I mean I hook hiked on a boat ride. The diversity of birds and the jumbo hippos as well as the varied water vegetation were nothing short of beauty. I however observed something that I had never seen before. While enjoying the boat ride, I noticed we had a tail! One Grey-headed gull seemed to be trailing us. The boat man or honourably the ‘captain’ seemed not bothered. I took courage and asked him if he was aware that one particular gull kept flying behind us! He said that it was just hunting. A clever Gull I thought. I had difficulties in distinguishing between sort of similar terns and gulls until I found out that one marked biological distinction is in their feeding mode. Terns are hunters and will hunt and eat small aquatic organisms. The bigger gulls are poor hunters or fishermen and are mainly scavengers. The Gull trailing us was simply taking advantage of disoriented fish, arthropods, etc by the turbulence of water caused by the rotating motor boat’s propeller. The disoriented fish and insects are less likely of swift escape hence the predator swoops down and snatches them. Usually, the gull would eat dead, decomposing fish on the shore due to its less efficient hunting methods. I thought this was a good adaptation, guaranteeing this dominantly scavenger bird fresh food as a hunting predator.

A Grey-headed Gull

In the meeting organized by Wildlife Direct in April, 2008, one scientist revealed that he had observed fishermen in Lake Victoria pour Furadan on the water surface then using motor boats, churn the waters with their boats manoeuvring in figure 8 manner. Evidently, fish came floating from the effects of the chemical while definitely many other organisms must have succumbed to the poison. Gulls occur in Lake Victoria as well. Learning to trail boats that churn the poison-laden waters may however lead them to their tragic end. Many fish still may escape this poisoning death but fall in the fishermen’s nets. Otters are also renowned to have learnt that net catches are rich and will spare their energy and serve themselves at the catch in the nets especially for the nets left out overnight, so more predators and more scavengers to get into this chain of intoxication and possible fatalities. What of the fisherman below, employing his teeth to hold his caught fish? I hope this fish is not an escapee from poisoned water area.

Tags: fisherman, Grey-headed gull, Lake Naivasha, Lake Victoria, otter, wildlife poisoning

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 17 2008 | By: Martin Odino

Yesterday BBC reported on reject on calls for ban on bush meat in central Africa. Frances Seymour, director general of CIFOR - the Centre for International Forestry Research-speaking to the BBC amongst other things warned that “Criminalising the whole issue of bushmeat simply drives it underground.”. He may just have been right especially when I look at the secrecy that surrounds poisoning of wildlife in Kenya.

Killing wildlife in defence against attack on your property/livestock is apparently lawful in Kenya though it is always preferred that you call the local wildlife authority, the Kenya Wildlife Service to come capture the rogue carnivore as it turns out in most cases to come gun down or cage trap the intruder.

This is by no means a justification for wild poisoning of the carnivores and consequently vultures, hyenas and other canids. I was looking at the notes I made on the questionnaires to the bird poachers in Busia and could not stop trying to get a link to the secrecy that characterises Kenyan hunting (partly through poisoning) and Central Africa’s. in trying to understand the poisoning I have modelled the case of poisoning of carnivore and scavengers which is almost wholly not meant for meat trade or other animal parts for trade based on a by the way question that I asked some bird poachers in Busia on what they would do if against their odds they were forced to quit poaching (birds) especially using poison. A few realistic ones said they would have to fall back on what everybody else was doing to sustain their livelihoods. In my reasoning, I cannot stop thinking that the poachers especially in and around the National Parks and Reserves that survived the harsh enforcement against poachers in the late 80’s, early 90’s and reformed for better to be just like their non-poaching native colleagues, turned to livestock keeping and crop farming. While poaching was ‘banned’, fear caught up with everyone which indeed did our country a lot of good by boosting tourism through securing wildlife. But the wildlife conflicts did not end as well as human population growth applying more and more pressure especially on animal reserves thereby prompting the predators to roam to the proximities of man’s holdings to satiate their hunger .And so the situation of wildlife poisoning started appearing ‘boldly’ in the 90’s with easier detections in non-park and reserve regions like western Kenya where spread out birds for purchase for domestic meat consumption obviously betrayed poisoning as a poaching technique. This averted the focus from the reserves and parks where a poisoned animal is highly likely to be cleared out by the alert scavengers. Soon however, scores of vultures would die and this being irregular, it was later to be revealed by autopsy results that they were poisoned. In brief I suppose secrecy embodied in poisoning evolved from the well-meant enforcement against wildlife poaching.

I cannot help pondering if this could be a solution to wildlife poisoning other than for carbofuran which honestly is almost a threat to everything living. I mean, If I must kill wildlife that is a threat to me and what is mine, I should do it but not use a poison which means a policy review to include harsh preconditions such as this kind of killing will only be legal if my physical security is at its best and meets another precondition that outlines how you should reinforce your physical security to accord it secure.

Just thinking aloud so as to involve you. What do you think?

Tags: BBC, Carnivores, Central Africa, CIFOR, Kenya, National Parks, National Reserves, poachers, scavengers, wildlife poisoning

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Category: Pesticides | Date: Sep 16 2008 | By: Martin Odino

Hi. Apologies for not posting on the blog for a while. I just emerged from a pesticides workshop in which notably and commendable were farmers; thanks to the organizers of the workshop.

What emerged of animal poisoning from this workshop from the farmers was their commendable knowledge on pesticides. They all seemed to acknowledge the fact that pesticides are poisonous afterall. They were frank enough to disclose that abuse was going on and in a number of cases it turned out disastrous. Incidences such as use of a pesticide called Karate to spray animals against external parasites and consequent literal fall off of the skin; use of an acaricide to disinfect the wounds of a de-horned cow resulting in death of the cow among others were revealed. The bottom line to this however is the fact that such ideologies would be passed from one farmer to another without and in most cases the source of the information was not of expertise standard. Being a very poor farmer (in terms of knowledge) myself, I have lived outside the era when there were Agricultural Extension Services. Many of our generation hoover in the same protracted ignorance since from the look of things, the responsible government department just froze that service. We are therefore living in an era where an extension officer is almost out of reach and in case of an emergency, an equally ignorant peer’s advice is much welcome much as you know you are doing it on trial and error basis, but hopes are held high that your advisor’s perspective will work alright. The farmers in the workshop however showed great surprise at the details of intoxication and vowed to be ambassadors of enlightment.

Early in the year, I also held a meeting with a group of pastoralists from a part of North Eastern and Rift Valley,Kenya at Isiolo and Maralal respectively. But this was neither a workshop nor an informed meeting to them.It was apparent that they did not deal closely with an extension officer. While I was mistaken as one at first, these people went on to shower me with predator problems making it clear that if I was interested in bettering their livestock then that would come later because to begin with, they needed to save their livestock if at all they were to have anything to improve on. At the backyard of this area is the Samburu National Reserve. The livestock keepers enumerated lions, hyenas and leopard as the troublesome culprits stressing that livestock killings were a daily occurence!I asked them how they countered this problem. Little did I know that their trust would fade away fast. After consultation in the local dialect of which I do not have any vocabulary, one of them stated that they hunted them down but they implicated locals from a neighbouring division. When I asked them if they knew about carbofuran they played absolute ignorant. They however shifted to describing strychnine since it seemed not my interest. But the Samburu surrounding has been renowned for lion and vulture mortalies following carnivore-killed prey laced with carbofuran with recent mortalities having been reported this year. After the workshop, I have contemplated this encounter with the pastoralists in Isiolo and Maralal. Critically looking at things, I believe lack of supervision has in part contributed to the pastoralists turning to the lethal pesticides hoping to avert the situation.

What should be done:

1. I feel there is need to hold a workshop with a sampled small number of the pastoralists from the various poisoning areas.
2. If possible, they should be brought to Nairobi or any non-rural set up. Detaching them from their areas where emotions and pressure from other locals not to easen on the losses they have encountered on their livestock can make them relax just like the farmers in the workshop above and then let them share the reality while educating them more about the detriments of the pesticides being used in poisoning of the cats and scavengers.
3. This way we can try form an awareness ‘extension service’ now that the relevant departments don’t seem to be alarmed just as we are at Wildlife Direct and the entire wildlife conservation fraternity

This can be done with your continued support. Kindly keep supporting us and reading the blog. I am speculating-and God forbid- that with intensifying dry conditions for much of the remaining part of the year the seizefire of poisoning may be lifted in some areas,but we will let you know how we will in our utmost possible efforts deal with the situations.

Tags: animal poisoning, Isiolo, Kenya, Maralal, North Eastern, Pesticides, Rift Valley, Samburu

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 13 2008 | By: Martin Odino

Hi,

I just thought it would be refreshing if you took a look at these handful photos for your weekend. These are part of my collection that I have from wildlife poisoning surveys.May be you could test your knowledge on these African raptors as well and put it as your comments? I will give you a hint for each. By the way a number of these raptors are vultures. Raptor refers to a birdof prey in contemporary ornithology. Traditionally the term was reserved for killer birds of prey; I mean birds of prey that literally killed their prey for eating. Vultures are scavengers and therefore would not qualify to be called raptors. They (vultures) are now also considered as raptors simplified to mean birds of prey. Raptors are sadly part of biodiversity that have and continue to suffer heavy casualties from pesticide poisoning. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy!

Hint: A snake-eater

Hint: A young bird or immature whose adults could attain one of the three colour morphs known of this species.

Hint: Also an immature bird; one of the two species of East African vultures whose young individuals are so identical.

Hint: The commonest East African vultures.

Hint: Afish-eater.

Pleasant weekend and keep checking our blog.

Tags: pesticide poisoning, raptors

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Category: Pesticides, carbofuran | Date: Sep 12 2008 | By: Martin Odino

I have not been in touch with worms for a while. Today’s story on BBC on earthworms caught my attention because a worm is the sublect of interest. Nematodes which are worms are the intended target by carbofuran nematicide.

Nematodes are mostly are free-living; found in soil where they are important decomposers. Some are parasitic, including many parasites of commercially important plants like strawberries and oranges. Nonetheless, they are worms!

But earthworms are worms as well; they have distinctly segmented bodies that is, their body is made up of repeating units. Yet earthworms and nematodes are both in this case in the soil, soil worms and therefore a possible target for carbofuran either way! What is worse is that carbofuran is turning out a dreaded biocide rather than a nematicide.

Earthworms are important soil burrowers therefore important in soil aeration, an important condition in crop farming. In addition, they are soil detoxication facilitators. They would aid in metal toxins removal from the soil as reported on BBC in Earthworms to aid in soil clean up.

Tags: annelids, BBC, carbofuran, Earthworms, nematodes

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