Stop Wildlife Poisoning

Category: carbofuran | Date: Jul 30 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Dear readers, the summary on the post 4 points on carbofuran poisoning in humans revealed intentional poisoning in humans as the mode by which human mortalities occured. So is the case for lion poisoning and likewise bird poisoning. But EPA spells that even proper use of the pesticide is harmful especially to children, hence the ongoing process to ban it from the USA “in a move to protect people, especially children, from dietary risk.”

The lab analysts that gave me the facts in the post, 4 points on carbofuran poisoning in humans did not understand why the people feeding on Furadan-poisoned birds in Bunyala (and Mwea) region were not dying. First and foremost, there has been no medical research on the effects of the poison on the people in the areas. Data on human poisoning let alone precision of actual responsible poison is retreavable from the poorly staffed and equiped health centres in the area. We therefore concluded that most likely the deaths occur but are never reported.

But locals and the 2 doctors who also own pharmacies and whom I got to talk to in Bunyala agree there are a couple of mortality cases that occur in the area are certainly poisoning cases. When asked which poison they thought was responsible, they gave a number but named Furadan first; asked what they thought the most common and probable poison used to kill the humans was, they picked on Furadan. Both doctors admit they have no proper records where they have recorded the poisoning cases. For another reason, locals are lacking in liquid cash, though their livestock assets are modest and apparently they save these for last though this is not well illustrated given the high rate of illiteracy and long-illness deaths. The locals therefore will tend to self-treat or strain their immunities to fight without medicinal back up. In such cases, people will try giving the poisoned fellow milk at best otherwise they pass on without medical intervention. Even in death, post-mortems are never carried out let alone being known. The berieved then cling onto the corpse of their beloved one for fear of superstitious practices being performed on their own in case the body has to be taken to hospital for medical examination in which case the dead would remain to haunt them. And so, if Furadan was the cause of death the evidence goes with the dead to the grave.

At the lab, one analyst tried explaining the phenomenon of ‘no observable’ intoxication in humans in Bunyala. He explained that the poison once ingested by a bird goes to the brain before going elsewhere in the body. I wish I understood that but I had to be contented with the path of poison travel as first to the brain. Of course the alimentary canal is tainted with the poison as well. Consumers of the poisoned birds normally get rid of the head, legs and entrails therefore lower the quantity that will be consumed. Nonetheless, the expert said that in this poison’s killing path, the poison does spread. Further, during cooking, the poison is concentrated citing that they use heat to concentrate Furadan in samples to be analysed in the lab for carbofuran. The lttle Furadan in the bird’s meat is therfore consumed after being concentrated even though it may not attain the lethal amount!

Poisoned pigeon in Bunyala: the bird had been picked by 3 boys having died out of the poacher’s poisoning range. Poison is concentrated in the brain and gut.

In the post, Furadan Everywhere, I tried to explain how the Furadan used in Bunyala gets ‘everywhere’ inclusive of domestic water sources. In EPA’s Tolerance Revocation, “EPA completed action to revoke existing carbofuran tolerances (residue limits in food) due to unacceptable dietary risks, especially to children, from consuming a combination of food and water with carbofuran residues.” I think people in Bunyala are consuming this combination. More is that a majority are youngsters (children) with rice being one of the immediate post-weaning foodstuffs that they have to get used to eating.

Kids giving mummy a helping hand with the rice; will they grow to be strong?will they survive? There might just be Furadan residues in the rice that cou;d cause intoxication.

Rice cultivation is inseparable from Furadan use; it is the media by which Furadan found its way to Bunyala. The supply was so gross that the Furadan supplied at planting time from the time the seedlings are developing in the seedbeds remains to be used in vegetable shambas (gardens), poisoning birds and for other crude uses suh as being put on wounds to keep off flies. Those who have tried the latter say the flies drop dead.And it is also the efficient way to commit suicide or kill another person(s) who you are not in very good terms with! As far as rice production is concerned, the rice grown in the fields is as good as a cash crop only not sold by the farmers: the irrigation board claims its lion’s share for the planting inputs that were provided to the farmers once the rice matures and is harvested. Some however remains with the farmers who make it almost an all-meals constituent. In the morning it is taken with tea, at lunch time it may be taken with legumes, mostly beans and in the evening with poisoned bird stew or skipped to be eaten the next day at the frequency of at least 2 meals a day. But EPA says that Furadan even when used as a nematicide correctly in such a manner as rice production, still its residues will remain in the food. So the Banyalas and Luos in satiating their hunger are lodging an intoxicant in their bodies with those unable to survive passing on quietly.

It is a long string of deaths due to Furadan: animal bait(snails, small fish, grasshoppers, locusts,), birds and humans. Elsewhere our majestic big cats are at its mercy.

Please keep reading.

Technorati : , Bunyala, EPA, Furadan, Mwea, poison

Tags: Bunyala, EPA, furadan, Mwea, poison

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Category: carbofuran | Date: Jul 28 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Dear readers,

Thank you for reading, commenting and donating on this blog. We are also very thankful to the CBS 60 minutes for their recent video and story on sunday, 26/07/09. Please keep supporting us to bring an end to the gross and harmful poisoning of wildlife.

While I prepare to get to the ground to continue with my project in Bunyala, I have reason to worry that the situation on furadan poisoning has not gotten any better but just got worse by going underground. I am troubled by the closing paragraph at the end of the CBS story that:

“After our story aired, FMC announced it would recall Furadan from stores in Kenya and stop all sales in the neighboring countries of Uganda and Tanzania. But a random survey last month found that while Furadan was no longer on the shelves in Kenya, it was still available in Uganda and Tanzania, where lions are also disappearing.”

Earlier on (July 15th, 2009), I got this communication of the Furadan situation in Eldoret:

“Am in Eldoret briefly and wanted to let you know that quite a few shops still have Furadan on the shelves. One shopkeeper told me that that even though they know it is being withdrawn, that the distributors are still selling it…

Picture from this morning attached

What should we do with this information?”

Further, yesterday, I also got a call from my ground assistant that bird poisoning is still on in Bunyala.

Honestly, linking these three episodes leaves a lot to be desired. The email communication did not specify the suppliers of the toxic pesticide and our attempt to follow up on the same have been futile. However, CBS reports that “FMC, declined 60 Minutes’ request for an interview but said in a written statement that Furadan is important to the sustainability of agriculture in Kenya. They said that the labels clearly illustrate its proper use and that they condemn the illegal use of their products to kill predatory wildlife.” We know FMC announced their withdrawal of the product from Kenya and East Africa but seemingly they still stress on the chemical being of agricultural importance to kenya.

The situation in Bunyala is worrying because crop production is unreliable and the prevalent drought and famine have not made it any better. Well, people may just eat more birds…furadan-poisoned….and may be the the drought may end up killing their livestock before they turn to them!

It appears there are no prospects of intervention by the relevant titans in the immediate future as concerns stricter regulation or a possible ban of the product. There is therefore need to echo our call of urgency to all well-wishing stakeholders, particularly nations affected by ‘our crude poisoning technique’.

Particularly, as concerns birds, the populations impacted on are not just Kenyan but also from Eurasia - Europe and Asia at large - and a number of African countries. This is because the phenomenon of birds’ movements involves migrations affecting up to long-range migrants. This means that only Australia & New Zealand and the America’s bird populations are not affected but even then, cases of vagrants occurring in our region are not uncommon and lately they have been on the increase possibly because of the greatly changed environmental conditions.

At the moment, Southern African migrants are around. I have seen the Southern Pochard, the Madagascar and the White-throated Bee-eaters. A couple Wahlberg’s Eagles have also arrived early possibly following their inborn cues but the usual rains that hail their coming are not on. Nonetheless they are here. Numerous Palearctic migrants are still about: Ruffs, Marsh Sandpipers, Common Sandpipers and Woodsandpipers are around on our water bodies and the irrigation schemes. The Furadan poisoning bird poacher’s list is toped by waterbirds and these constitute the majority of what I have shortlisted. In my data collection of poisoned birds, I have Ruffs, Marsh Sandpipers, wood Sandpipers and Green Sandpipers. No doubt the list is lacking.

A classic example of why we need your kind support by commenting, donating or even greatly publicizing your greatly declined birds some of which I may have Iisted above given the fact that some of the migrating birds that end up being poisoned here in Kenya may be critical or endangered in their native breeding countries. The Ruff for instance already is suffering from its contracting range in Europe due to land drainage and increased fertilizer use. The greatly migrating population coming to get poisoned in Africa, in Kenya, just compounds their declines. The bird is listed in African Eurasian Waterbirds Agreement (AEWA) waterbirds. The countries that are members could make noise about this problem facing the bird that the host country does not seem to be taking responsibility. The following are poisoned sandpipers and ruff, either disoriented or already dead from baiting by Furadan.

It is sad that many species of migrants die in large numbers as compared to the resident bird species because the residents have learnt over time of this method working against them. Even with the knowledge, these subjects do not go free and lose many of their own but progressively avoid the baits with time. On the other hand, migrants arrive hungry and in anticipation of food to fuel their movement down to South Africa then again back North on their return journey and they seem utterly unaware of the poisoning thereby losing more of their own at the poisoning sites compared to the residents.

In one month’s time, Eurasian bee-eaters and a numerous waders will be here constituting early arrivals from Europe and Asia. The little input to this campaign will go a long way to ensure that if at all any should die, then just a few would have to die from the saddening poisoning using Furadan.

Technorati : AEWA, Bunyala, CBS, FMC, Furadan, Poisoning, Wildlife

Tags: AEWA, Bunyala, CBS, FMC, furadan, poisoning, Wildlife

2 responses so far

Category: Masai Mara, carbofuran, lions | Date: Jul 27 2009 | By: paula

Dear friends,

Last night CBS 60 minutes re-ran the story on the link between the collapse of lion populations in Africa, and the misuse of the pestsicide Furadan, a carbofuran produced in the USA. There is a video here and the online piece attracted 119 comments.

Hopefully this piece will  energise the discussions in Kenya about the call for a ban on carbofuran.

Paula

Tags: carbofuran, CBS, furadan, lions, Poisoning wildlife

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Category: carbofuran | Date: Jul 26 2009 | By: Martin Odino

The big question as concerns Furadan poisoning in Kenya is if the pesticide’s availability is legal or illegal. This leaves the situation as concerns practical legal measures to check poisoning of wildlife especially using Furadan uncertain. At the moment, my understanding and many involved conservationists is that the pesticide has been withdrawn from Kenya since early in the second quarter of this year by the known, original manufacture, the FMC . Yet again the business men cum agrovet-keepers ALL seem to have the understanding that Furadan is BANNED. They make reference on the banned status of Furadan to the persons who have been going round retrieving what was left of their Furadan 5G stocks. We know for sure that Juanco, once the local distributors of Furadan have been the ones buying back Furadan and therefore must be the ones giving the explanation that they are retrieving the pesticide because it has been misused to poison wildlife in particular lions. PCPB and AAK have not issued any statement as concerns Furadan, while the Kenyan government discussed the banning of the pesticide in parliament and left the matter on the decision to ban Furadan and other carbofuran’s pending and have since been silent about the issue.

I have continued to observe bird poisoning in Bunyala and though the chemical has not been available on agrovet shelves since December, 2008, birds continue being poisoned in Bunyala Rice irrigation Scheme using the poison. While the means of aquiring the poison have changed and is now a top secret affair, the evidence of the poison’s availability is strongly clear with birds continuing to be poisoned and the product once in the hands of bird poachers, not all of them are astutely careful, leaving about the mess during manouvres to screen the identity of the pesticide uncleared; I mean the containers and labels of Furadan poisoning are never well disposed and litter the fields where they bait birds. Worse is the fact that even though FMC-manufactured stocks of Furadan are being called back, which have a designated label pattern of the text overwritten on diagonal inclined “juanco”repeated sequence throughout the label, some of these labels do not have the identity print suggestive of counterfeit or other manufacture product in wide circulation.

Pieces of evidence not well disposed by bird baiting poachers; no authentication of JUANCO distribution by the repetitive ‘juanco ‘on label and therefore possibly a black market product.

A classic example of the unchanged situation of Furadan in Kenya which has shunned conservationists’ hopes that the supply of the poison will trickle to none in the market hence at least control poisoning of wildlife is the availability of the pesticide in Eldoret, openly displayed in a number of agrovets, just this month. It had been broadly observed that the pesticide was slowly becoming hard to come by (since the buy back was declared) in agrovet stores and in the stores where it was available it was hidden and apparently sold to ’specilal’ customers after authentication that the customer is not a law enforcer. That Furadan is openly available in Eldoret Town and the shopkeepers admiting they know it is ‘banned’ and yet continue displaying and selling it is a disturbing issue.

These are my inferences: If agrovets are still selling the pesticide, it is not against the law if the pesticide is from JUANCO. This is because PCPB acknowledges supplies of Furadan from FMC and JUANCO was the acknowledged local distributor until when FMC voluntarily decided to withdraw and buy back Furadan in which case we hope they have stopped supplying and distributing it respectively. With PCPB’s and the government’s stands unchanged, then the agrovets still with the pesticide are not on the wrong, with supply and distribution regulations unchanged by PCPB. In addition, Kenya’s pesticides’ law infers that a pesticide cannot be banned due to misuse. Sadly, this makes me wonder if the agrovets’ persons tales that ‘Furadan is banned’ was not a story ‘told to be told’ to investigators. In addition, it means Furadan’s ban hitherto is unwarranted by the poisoning of carnivores, birds and possibly people!However, sell of counterfeit pesticide products is illegal and offenders are subject to discipline by law. But the problem is that the non-FMC Furadan may be from licenced suppliers by the regulatory agencies who keep so many matters as classified.

Furadan may just be still legal, much as the withdrawal and buy back by FMC of the poison seemed to push its status to a pseudo-illegal product, I should say. Well, FMC’s and non-FMC Furadans still linger our land and there is no knowing of their fate by our legislators and regulators which still leaves our wildlife perilously vulnerable to deadly , devastating poisoning by this deadly poisonous substance.

A poacher holding poisoned birds by Furadan baiting for human consumption: A scene reflecting a situation in dire need of solving.

Tags: AAK, Birds, Bunyala, FMC, furadan, JUANCO, Kenya, lions, PCPB, poison, Wildlife

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Category: carbofuran | Date: Jul 23 2009 | By: Martin Odino

We visited one poacher’s home at his invitation in Bunyala. This man is a renowned veteran hunter and he confirms in his melancholic narration of how once wild ungulates -’large’ antelopes, gazelles and warthogs- as well as hares roamed the hilly relief features of Bunyala.

The old man, probably in his late 60’s says he still hunts but the frequency of going game hunting has gone to almost none given the fact that there are no longer many thick bushes as they used to be where they would flush out the animals . Instead, bird hunting has become a more reliable mode of poisoning but for the high cost of the pesticide which they use for poisoning the birds. According to him, him and the other bird hunters still get Furadan but he says they deal with middlemen and even they do not know the actual source of the pesticide much. He then asked me if I did not know that the government had banned the chemical. I think he was just siziing me up to know if for sure I am ‘the government’. Well he said they are all ears to the wind just in case somebody was out to arrest them.

In the 80’s and when game hunting was the giant source of wild meat and income, my interviewee (the old man) says he used to lead a team of other men, most of which he had trained himself. A pack of hunting dogs would accompany them and there was guaranteed succesful killing of quarry on every hunting expedition. He says they would ambush and kill the animals using clubs, spears, bows and arrows after having been led by their ’sniffer’ dogs. This activity is no longer fruitful and the wild game have just gone under. Bird poisoning then picked up.

Traditionally, game birds were ‘intoxicated’ using traditional brew residue or grains soaked in local brew. The birds would then get disoriented, some even dropping to the ground then they would be picked for human consumption. The same way, Furadan poisoning evolved. This picked up easily because manpower was there, just diverted from game poaching. Further, Furadan killled numerous birds which is what was required if the income return from the birds poisoned had to measure up with the returns from game poaching.

But the old man sighed and said that even with Furadan, this contemporary form of poaching (bird poisoning) never really measured up to the old game poaching. His general observations are that birds are on the decline. He also says poaching, (it became poisoning) was and still is an economic activity, acording to him just like there were and still are traders, farmers and fishermen in the local set up, adding that poachers who are now employing poisoning will continue to as long as there is a poison to be used. If anything, there is no other animal to be poached.

The old man is a proud poacher but certainly not proud of what bird poisoning has made of him: he still wallows in poverty, despite bird poaching providing quick money . His home only boasts 3 dilapidated houses, of which 1 is his son’s who is also a poacher. I asked him if given that he was the living grand master behind the poaching and poisoning apprenticeship if he would help me change the minds of the men wasting their lives poaching poor birds by advocating for alternatives that I preached and hoped to fund raise for. The man mischievously asked if i would pay him. Well, I told him I would look into that but I think if he meant well for the society, then he would be relieved and satisfied to see that his community was on its feet after abandonng degrading and derogatory poisoning even without pay.

My host’s home: This photo was actually taken inside the compound which is demarcated by widely spaced tree line with decoy storks for use in poisoning seemingly being the only life forms gracing the home.

Besides being a poacher, my interviewee is a herdsman by day and watchman to one well off homested by night.

It is a society in dire need of liberation much as the process is painfully slow and frustrating to the persons and process of trying to impliment it.

Tags: Bunyala, furadan, Poaching, poisoning

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Category: carbofuran | Date: Jul 21 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Furadan not only poisons the animals it is directly used to poison but also gets into the water, soil and plants.

Bunyala is an amazing, almost perfect plain ’s land. It was checking out this panoramic view that it occcured to me that on the flat surface, just like the water flows to almost submerge the entire Bunyala area, so does whatever that is dissolved in the water.

A flat expanse: Bunyala

The farmers who tend the paddy have been using Furadan for at least 3 decades in the production of the crop. The soil is acidic, black cotton soil, the conditions of which favor slower degradation of carbofuran therefore the pesticide lasts longer in the prevalent conditions in Bunyala.

When the nearby river Nzoia bursts its banks, the flood waters find their way especially by way of the irrigation canals to the rice scheme, pick up whatever is in the paddy fields of the Furadan and flows to the surrounding plains. With reduced momentum, some of the water seeps into the soil. With receding floods, I bet the grass takes up some of the deposited Furadan if it is not degraded.

At flooding, irrigation canals overflow, their spillage getting as far as and beyond the surrounding homesteads

Bunyala residents use bore-hole water. At flooding, the water in the bore hole rises to almost ground level the extra having come from rain water but also from flood water which is the overflow some of which is contaminated with Furadan after having gotten to the rice scheme and out of the irrigation water canals, gushing out and into the boreholes and wells eventually. It is this water that the residents of Bunyala then draw and use for domestic use.

My assistant offering a helping hand to children at a borehole. Such are the wells that get Furadan contamination at flooding.

Then there is the rice that is grown using Furadan. Its safety not up to standard especially to children at least by the merit of EPA.

Unshelld rice on a drying mat and a kid playing on it; after a few days the rice will be separated from the husk by hitting it using sticks and the young man will soon be relying on the grain for his upkeep.

Everything might just be contaminated using furadan in Bumyala: Cattle grazing in contaminated grass; people drinking, cooking and washing using contaminated water and still, people feeding on rice that may just not be safe for human consumption.

Tags: Bunyala, EPA, furadan, poison

One response so far

Category: carbofuran | Date: Jul 18 2009 | By: Martin Odino

So far!

Bunyala Rice Irrigation Scheme: In these rice fields, birds are poisoned using Furadan by the thousands each month

Dear readers, early 2000 marked the start of confronting the problem of poisoning using Furadan by conservationists especially ornithologists amongst others ecologists in Kenya. Furadan had been introduced into Kenya in the early 80’s as an agricultural nematicide pesticide and people, farmers and non-farmers alike had discovered its deadly poisonious nature, harnessing the property for destructive non-agicultural related killing of biodiversity.

In the early 2000s, FMC sent some officials to Kenyafor the first time to come discuss the issue with the conservationists that the pesticide had been observed to be killing birds, especially waterbirds in rice irrigation schemes. At the end of the meeting the FMC delegates left with amongst the agreed measures they had to undertake back at their company in the U.S.A to: brand on Furadan’s label, “Not for use in paddy” and to sell the pesticide in packages of 25+ Kg weight. Everyone then sat back and waited in joyful hope.

Time continued wearing past and the faithful Kenyan conservationists that had shared the same discussion table with FMC ran out of patience, realizing they had been taken for a raw deal. Afterall, none of the agreed on steps to be taken by FMC were implimented and nobody from FMC ever justified the one-sided decision to rubbish the decisions. Meanwhile, the pesticide continued to be abused to kill biodiversity which Kenya, a struggling third world country relies on for its revenue.

It is unfortunate that the turn of events associated with Furadan poisoning caught everyone unawares. But I think it is expected when you understand the sniping nature with which the pesticide operates as a poison and I bet it would be the same with many other poisons. Even the regulatory organizations, PCPB and AAK (their names must have changed) sat tight and did not consider that their role to verify the safety of the pesticide product was an absolute failure and the proof of the pesticide’s safety either by the manufacturer or even by the Kenyan regulatory agencies’ a total sham. Instead the pesticide continued hiding behind wiping completely the nematodes (soil worms) as it was any biodiversity unabatedly.

With just birds as the reference point for Furadan’s foul play and lacking in progressive mortality documentation, there was no much to face the local regulators and persuade them that the pesticides needed their urgent attention. Soon however, whispers of extended foul play of the pesticide in killing other biodiversity in the background grew louder . Two surveys were then undertaken to find out the distribution and general use of the pesticide. Amongst the findings of the surveys were wide distribution of the pesticide extending to non-crop agricultural areas or pastoralist areas and commercial crop farming areas especially rice growing areas. Also, intents for which Furadan was being used in most of these areas was revealed to be downrightly inclined more to abuse as a poison than proper pesticidal use. Furadan had become rogue and even EPA points it out clearly that it is unsafe even when properly used hence its ban in the U.S.

The surveys listed amongst the poisoned biodiversity include birds with especially shocking mortalities in vultures and water birds, also seedeaters, lions, hyenas, wildebeests, warthogs, crocodiles, fish, domestic dogs, domestic cats and unconfirmed human mortality cases. The list is longer and disturbing and drove Wildlife Direct Chaired by Dr. Richard Leakey in May 2008 to organize a stakeholder’s meeting to share and discuss the matter of poisoning using Furadan: The Kenya Wildlife Service, World Wildlife Fund, Endangered Wildlife Trust, National Museums of Kenya, Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals, EAWLS, BirdLife International, Wetlands International, Peregrine Fund, National Environmental Management Authority, JUANCO, PCPB all attended. Numerous presentations were made on cases of various biodiversity poisoning giving testimony to the heineous destruction attributed to the poison and showing how urgent an issue Furadan poisoning had become. While ALL saw the endangering conservation problem associated with Furadan poisoning, Juanco and PCPB saw otherwise with some of the officials from these two organizations declaring some of the studies whose results had been presented non-scientific; data insufficient hence inadequate evidence against Furadan.

While the 2 defenders of the pesticide made their stand clear that ‘Furadan is not a problem’, Dr. Richard Leakey nonetheless led our campaign at Wildlife Direct to end wildlife poisoning by calling for a ban on carbofurans (Furadan and its likes) just days after the meeting. The call was directed at various relevant government ministries: Ministry of Wildlife and Natural Resources, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries. With Dr. Richard Leakey’s and Wildlife direct’s motive bold, sincere and with natinal interest at heart, unfortunately nobody seemed to heed us. Further at Wildlife Direct, this blog was set up to tell the world on the dangerous, latent, wildlife poisoning issues, focusing particularly on Wildlife poisoning. Other Wildlife Direct blogs also continue to document on the issue as it affects them: Baraza Blog, lionguardians and kilimanjaro lion conservation plroject blog (currently inactive)amongst others.

Fighting almost aloof in Furadan poisoning terrorism, the CBS documentaryin March 2009 rejuvenated our vigour. The reality of mad lion poisoning was vividly highlighted; Over 60 lions killed from the pesticide’s poisoning. It goes just beyond this with various other organisms studied to be under great threat for instance during the meeting in May 2008 lorries of poisoned birds were shown to have been poisoned by Furadan; Vulture population in Kenya has nose-dived with some species such as the Egyptian Vulture possibly extirpated in the region. Instanteneous vulture mortalities in Kenya were reported in 2005 reaching up to over 200 strong which is about the largest congregatory figure of mixed species of vultures. This means a total loss of whole colonies in some poisoning instances; Numerous waterbirds and currently in Bunyala, Kenya montly bird mortalities are projected up to 3000 mixed bird species in one site whose area is hardly 400 ha.

We went further on at wildlifedirect to pursue on getting long term data at one present day Furadan poisoning site in the name of ‘evidence’ for our local regulatory agents, PCPB and AAK because the pesticide continues to be easily aquired for use from agrovet shops despite its evidenced gross abuse. This goes on even after the buy back program by FMC and recently the pesticide has been found broadly displayed in a number of agrovets in one of the capital towns in the country, Eldoret; check Furadan availability on our blog. So after some fundraising, we have been gathering data and documenting the observations on this blog on Bird Poisoning in Bunyala since February this year (2009). Even with this, no expertise has heeded these revelations and no regulatory persona have gotten on the ground to witness this. What it means is that we have hit a regulation stalemate of the pesticide. The regulatory agencies remain put and indifferent despite our monthly updates on Furadan poisoning to them.

With the prevalent stalemate however certain recent developments have occured. For instance various conservationists met with FMC officials in June 2009;Wildlife Direct’s top person met with the Minister for Wildlife on the issue; also we have had some other politicians’ support in fighting against the pesticide in parliament and a parliamentary discussion on the ban of the substance. The problem is that our motive is clear: ban Furadan for human and biodiversity’s safety in Kenya, while the various people and institutions we are meeting are taking too long to take on a sound decision and impliment it.

Please keep reading for more updates and revelations and support us in our campaign to end wildlife poisoning. You realize the case of Furadan availability in Eldoret was from a coleague who is doing his other research. It may not always be the case and it is not possible for me to be everywhere. However, just through a scout located on the site we can be able to integrate the information and make a follow up. The case stresses the need for me to get scouts at areas I refer to as ‘hot spots’ which are essentially intensive poisoning areas. I have done surveys in 3 major rice growing schemes and in two of these I have nobody on the ground. For a start, a scout just needs a phone with a camera option to be able to send me a short text message and to take a photo of the incidence.Such phone locally would cost 90 dollars, so 3 pieces for a start. Further, I have noted Furadan supply is on the increase again but traded on secretly. We therefore need to be clear on Furadan availability, another task that scouts would easily help me accomplish, because most likely there is another supplier or suppliers taking root and the killer will just keep wreaking havoc with its continued supply. While the regulatory agencies are indifferent, I strongly believe with continued gathering of whooping evidence of the cases of poisoning with a diverted approach now to media publicity we still have a greater chance of getting the poison banned.

keep reading.

Tags: Bunyala, EPA, FMC, furadan, Kenya, poison, Richard Leakey, Wildlife Direct

One response so far

Category: carbofuran | Date: Jul 16 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Captive Open-billed Storks are amongst the creatures that endure the most pain in the business of bird poisoning using Furadan. I have already written much about these birds kept in captivity and used to draw others to eat Furadan-fouled molluscs in many posts. But I just must write about them yet again because the poachers continue to keep the captives in their backyards which clearly hints, the storks still have reason for being kept in captivity.

An old photo showing how decoys are transported; in sacks (the 2 small sacks hang ing on the passenger poacher’s shoulder). A bird used to taking in volumes of free air must find it hard to breathe in the stuffy, dirty sack. They only have choice to endure.

I had thought the decoys would in time lack purpose especially with the seeming panacea that was the Furadan buy back program. Sadly this has not been the case hitherto and the captors hold on to them dearly for luring purposes. This in itself is a sure sign that Furadan poisoning is still on much as it may be kept from the investigator’s eye, in this case myself. I had even thought of ‘buying back’ the Storks from their captors, get them into some form of rehabilitation since when taken to wetlands, the birds seem to forget their restraint and forage normally on the snails in the wetlands. However, the birds would need someone to watch out on them since they have no flight feathers and some are injured and therefore cannot escape if attacked by predators like dogs.

My assistant told me a decoy is the last thing a poacher will let go of and even with incessant bad luck of failure to poison birds which is sometimes the case, the poachers will not eat them but continue keeping them in captivity till they fetch them a kill some day. I randomly keep asking the poachers to sell me their decoys but they all turn down my request as though they unanimously vowed not to sell me the birds. Those who want to be ‘polite ‘ quote a gross figure such as 80 dollars a bird but in real sense they just want to turn me away.

The preciousness of the decoy Stork is in leading the other free storks to get down and forage on the poison bait even though they might just stand aloof and indifferent absorbed in their tribulations. This seems to be the difference between the small birds and the big storks and works against the storks. The small bird decoys would be restless and rouse suspicion in their colleagues thereby cause their free coleagues take off rather than settle for the bait.In the end, the decoy is the crucial link between the birds and the poachers.

Aloof and indifferent decoys.

The decoys in Bunyala betray the presence of Furadan. With both Juanco imprinted in pink in the background of the labels otherwise dark lettered Furadan 5G packs and the unmarked in the background of the labels, FMC manufactured and contraband forms of Furadan continue to undermine the efforts to end bird and predator poisoning.

Sweet life without captivity and poisoning

Nature begs for the much needed tranquility!

Tags: Bunyala, FMC, furadan, Poacher, poison

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Category: carbofuran | Date: Jul 15 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Dear readers,

Just having finished combing the rice growing areas a few days ago to find out if Furadan is still at large and used for poisoning, at least birds, affirmatively the pesticide is available in these rice schemes turned poisoning camps.

A moment ago, I checked my email inbox only to find one from a coleagueresearcher, Dr.Dino Martins with the screaming title: FURADAN IN ELDORET. Dino’s email details that the agrovet had the pesticide displayed on the shelves in full view of anyone while the keepers are aware that it is being withdrawn but the “distributors are still selling it!”

Now, it does look like the western Kenya agricultural town of Eldoret still boasts the poisonous pesticide and is far from being short of it, with the distributors keeping the stock steady. I really hope this distributor is not Juanco and that it is not coming from FMC. But then it means the doors of another or other distributors have been flung open and with no ban announced on the poison, poachers and pastoralists can still easily lay their hands on Furadan and kill wildlife at will. Below is a photograph taken by Dino at one of the Agrovets in Eldoret.

Furadan 5G

Tags: FMC, furadan, JUANCO, poison

5 responses so far

Category: carbofuran | Date: Jul 14 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Dear readers, no doubt it is hard to be certain that Furadan is responsible for the poisoning of wildlife in a poisoning incidence unless you carry out lab tests on the wildlife samples which is possible to get 100% precision as far as Furadan 5G carbofuran testing is concerned in just one local lab.

But even in the other laboratories using a less sensitive and older methodology (TLC; new methodology is HPLC), the argument is that Furadan 5G is the only carbofuran known to be locally available (Now greatly dwindled reserves in isolated places due to FMC’s buy back program but with contraband supply known to exist). This means that with heavy dosage of the pesticide on an animal and submission of the sample, may be as soon as within a week following proper freezing conditions still guarantees valid positive results if the poisoning was due to Furadan poisoning. Furadan would be the inferred carbofuran given no other locally available carbofuran. During a workshop last year, Juanco and PCPB insinuated that other carbofurans exist but neither specified which ones exactly. It appears there is none other than Furadan 5G.

In the field, I have observed a number of things on the birds that I am certain occur on Furadan-poisoned cases:

Even before the birds dies, the bird’s limbs are stiff at the joints (this is already known of carbofuran poisoning). However, before the stiffening, the wings become relaxed and loose hanging I bet rendering the bird incapabality to flap hence fly.

A pigeon, just poisoned, you see the hanging wings

Hanging wings in another casualty

He tried flying off but the stiff wing would not allow

At death, however, the joint-stiff stretched out wings progressively get folded in to almost normal position at death. Meanwhile the rigid but foldable legs also get stiffened. In hardly an hour after death, the legs and wings are totally stiff; wings folded stiff while legs are stretched out stiff.

Stiffened folded in wiings and stretched out stiff legs after death

More doves; Stiff stretched out legs and folded in wings showing in a number of these

About the time when the bird’s limbs are very stiff, the eyes also seem sunken in or colapsed into the sockets. Just my experience with dying, poisoned birds

Tags: furadan, JUANCO, PCPB, poison

2 responses so far