Stop Wildlife Poisoning

Category: carbofuran | Date: Jun 08 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Just when I commenced on this month’s survey, I wrote of continued poisoning in Bunyala just when there should not be, given the withdfrawal of Furadan supply by FMC, the wildlife poisoning critisism associated with Furadan use and the seemingly reduction of furadan use hence availability due to proposed other crop growing in the Bunyala rice scheme. Well, from what I have witnessed recently, it seems this hope is overambitious!

I have wandered far and wide this month away from the rice scheme that in my earlier months of survey was the epicentre of bird poisoning using furadan. Well,much as I think this was far off from the rice scheme area under the irrigation board, we have come to learn in the past few days that we have just been treading on many hactares of ground that come the next rice planting season, which is any day to come this month will to a greater extent be under the irrigation board.

An example of rice growth area expansion. The man against the background of the rising sun is putting up embarkments about his patch of land in readiness for flooding when the irrigation board pumps in water to nourish the paddy.

My fear is that what seem to be scattered pieces of Furadan poisoning evidence as at yesterday may soon turn to be common place.

I was puzzled why pieces of paper seemed to be scattered all over at our remotely located site yesterday. So while we picked them up, we actually noticed they were labels for Furadan; an attempt to conceal the identity of the pesticide?!!! Afterall, the poachers say Furadan is banned but continue to obtain and use it for bird poisoning.

Closeby was the evidence of what the Furadan had been used for; beheaded remains from a few of the poisoned storks!

And a snail bait with the ‘live’poison!

Apparently a sizeable stash of the pesticide lies in the premises of the local irrigation board. As I write, I just confirmed from my assistant if his ‘order’ of furadan will be delivered today from the irrigation scheme. He says he has been told that it will be, but tomorrow by the imposed supplier. With the outgrower expansion imminent, the Furadan stock may just be unleashed in the new development so soon since i understand that the irrigation scheme provides the rice growing necessities at planting time, and Furadan is one of the necessary distributed materials at seedling planting season.

Certainly, with carbofurans still acknowledged in Kenya, danger looms when the pesticide discharged to the farmers will eventually get to the poachers and get to endanger more and more birds, let alone other unmonitored bidiversity inclusive of man that continue to lavish in the menace of the unbanned state of the deadly toxic pesticide.

I photographed the bird above yesterday. It is the Long-tailed Nightjar. A species not recorded of this region and whose being is threathened by not the poison but by the fact that the poison fuels the deeds of poachers who in the stampede of poisoning and chasing after the poisoned birds and clobbering them, end up trampling on its habitat, scaring it to almost nowhere since already the expanding irrigation scheme has pushed them to about the last of the raised ground with thin shrubbery that never gets flooded.

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Tags: , Bunyala, FMC, furadan, poisoning