Stop Wildlife Poisoning

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 30 2009 | By: paula

We have just recieved reports that there has been a huge die off of birds at the Thika sewage works just north of Nairobi. This sewage works has been a favourite place for birders as it attracts a huge diversity and massive congregations of birds local and migrants

A team from Ornithology dept NMK in the company Oliver Nasirwa went to the Thika
sewage ponds to assess the reported case of dying birds at the site on the 26th
August 2009.

Ronald Mulwa notes:

“From my assessment and talking to the officers on the ground, the die off cases could
be going down. We found one Sacred Ibis really sick and unable to fly, also found one
Red-billed Teal just dying - apart from that the rest were 1 week old (or so) carcasses -
we assume that some carcasses also get swept away into the sewage outlet.

Though we are working on a more detailed update, the following are the
birds we found dead:
Sacred Ibis - 2 + 1 unable to fly
White-faced Whistling Duck -1
Red-billed Teal - 15
Red-knobed Coot - 5
Hadada Ibis - 2
Black-winged Stilt - sickly and unable to fly 1

We thought this may not be termed ‘Mass Die Offs’ as such, since there were still 100s of birds feeding and actively flying around. But the root cause for the deaths need to be established urgently.

We took samples some carcasses that were in reasonable shape and have been taken to
Kabete Vet Labs this morning. The Cape Teal we found dying had a strange swellings ballooning out of both eyes like bubble! photos available!

The officer in charge was quit concerned, supportive and was keen to be involved in this
assessment and to see the results of the Lab analysis.

We welcome suggestions and further discussion.
Best regards
Mulwa Ronald
Research Scientist Head - Ornithology Section, Zoology Department
National Museums of Kenya
P. O Box 40658 00100
Nairobi Kenya
Tel: 254-20-3742131/3742161 extn 243
Fax: +254-20-3741424 Cell Phone: +254 722499

According to Brian Finch and a report from Oliver Nasirwa of Nature Kenya, the three days between the initial discovery on 23^rd August 2009 and Olivers visit three days later, there was incredible variation in what both parties recorded.

Some of the dead birds disappeared including fifteen dead Spur-winged Plovers, Yellow-billed Ducks, Hottentot Teal, several Ruff and more than five Coot, is a mystery. This could be due to scavenging animals are moving in from the surrounding farmlands, maybe even local dogs.

Brian notes “the difference in live presence which is amazing, our figures
in brackets:

Little Grebe 450    (250)
Sacred ibis 170     (6)
Cattle Egret 5     (nil)
Yellow Billed Stork 13  (1)
Yellow-billed Duck 30   (15)
White-faced Whistling Duck 30   (20)
Red-knobbed Coot 50 (75)
Egyptian Goose 60  (40)
Grey Crowned Crane 12  (4)
Black-winged Stilt 100  (60)
Spur-winged Plover 50  (4 live fifteen dead!!!!)
Common Sandpiper 20 (20)
Curlew Sandpiper 30 (5)
Wood Sandpiper 10  (70)
Marsh Sandpiper 6 (1)
Little Stints 70 (90)
Chlidonias terns 30  (1WWBT)

We also recorded 2 White-backed Duck,  8 Hottentot, 2 Glossy Ibis, 10 Hadada, 2 Long-toed Plover, 6 Blacksmith Plover, 15 Three-banded Plover, 50 Ruff, 2 Green Sandpiper.

I think it erroneous to assume that birds that appear perfectly healthy are not infected and succumb later. Also I think that the difference by the two counts testifies that there is a considerable movement through the ponds, but even the birds that move on south or
wherever could have taken in a fatal dose.

If this were a terrorist situation we would be on a RED not ORANGE alert!”

The hotline to report bird die-offs to the Department of Veterinary Science is 0722-726-682.

To join the Nature Kenya bird group email kenyabirdsnet@yahoogroups.com

Tags: bird poisoning, Birds, Brian Finch, nature Kenya, ornithology, Pesticides, plover, poison, sandpiper, Thika

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

Dear readers,

Despite the on-going poisoning of birds, some smaller species survive unharmed by the direct poisoning particularly due to their mode of feeding.

Angola Swallow: I refer to them as ‘dirty’ Barn Swallows. They are however non-mogratory unlike the Barn Swallows.They are specialist insect eaters ‘on the wing’.

Winding Cisticola: they belong to the group of ‘grass dwellers’. They feed on grass seeds and tiny insects in the grass flower receptacles.

Malachite Kingfisher: common along water courses; irrigation channels in this case. It prefers insects in flight

Grey-headed Kingfisher: prefers woodlands bordering water courses but strictly feeds on insects in flight.

Diederick Cuckoo: also an insect eater; keeps off from the rice scheme.

Black crake: a wetland bird and may forage into the muddy pools in the paddy fields. Its shy nature preserves it from getting close to poachers or their baits hence avoiding poisoning.

Technorati : Birds

Tags: Birds

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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

One response so far

Category: Pesticides, carbofuran, lions | Date: Jun 05 2009 | By: emobisa

Hi everyone!

I have been following the developments on this topic (wildlife poisoning) keenly. The issue of furadan (carbofuran) beeing used as a poison has been particularly so depressing! Depressing because it is all too real to me. I know this because I have been an agronomist advising farmers on how to go around solving their problems and even helping them access the best remedies. For stubborn pests like nematodes we always advised or supplied farmers with furadan. Birds, baboons and even dogs were considered noxious pests!! I remember, we helped some of the best pesticides, and folliar feeds from Juanco including rootgard, humax etc to remote areas where only us could reach (by foot) like Kebirichia, Mugae, Kimbo, Intirimiti in Meru. This is how far we could possibly take furadan.

Many farmers I shared with knew that furadan would kill birds and other wildlife that destroyed their crops. Farmers in Karimenu (Nyeri) will tell you that furadan has been very helpful to them in eradicating the menace of mouse birds on their vegetable gardens. One of the farmers once told me that he remembers painting a furadan solution on a tomato fruit which was later eaten by a mouse bird while he was watching. The bird did not leave the farm. It got drowsy and fell on the ground after a few seconds. His dog ate the dying bird. The dog also died after about five hours. This same farmer regretted why they did not know furadan in the past because they could have used it against baboons and monkeys that were once a menace on their farms. In Nanyuki, I worked with farmers growing snow peas and sugar snaps. The farmers used furadan as a nematicide by inoculating the planting holes before planting. But I later on discovered that it was a common practice to put some grains of furadan mixed with maize, in a container and leave it on the farm. This was meant to kill the so called black and blue birds that used to flock on the farms to destroy the crops at their flowering stage. I later came to learn these birds were super starlings! So the farmers in this areas have been aware of the multiple purposes of furadan for a long time.

My recent visit to a few agrovets showed that people are aware of the negative impacts of furadan on wildlife but they can still use it. They are very much aware it has been withdrawn but also they know it is in the market. It can only be sold to you secretly by someone who knows you. An agrovet attendant in Kitengela told me they know it has been banned because the Maasais use it to kill lions. She however told me they know one distributor who has stock in Kitengela and Machakos. She was certain it can only be sold to me if I am well known to the owner of the agrovet. In the same week, I was in Migosi estate, Kisumu. I visited two agrovets stores looking for a nematicide. I was told the most effective has been withdrawn because the government, through parliament has banned it and if anyone was caught selling it, would be arrested. In trying to ask them what they did with the stock they already had, they wondered if I was not Kenyan! “Everything can’t go back you know” one of them said. “There is no Kenyan who can’t speak out if there is money given and this thing can only be sold to those who well known”

I know all these guys meant selling it to farmers who use it a pesticide and not for poisoning wildlife. But now I think there is no dispute about furadan’s ability to kill wildlife and the fact that People have been aware of this fact for a long time.

Tags: Birds, FMC, furadan, JUANCO, poisoning, Wildlife, Wildlifedirect

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Category: Masai Mara, carbofuran, lions | Date: May 28 2009 | By: paula

We have just heard from a reliable source that at least 35 vultures, one lion and a few hyeanas were poisoned bye the Olololaimutiak gate in the Masai Mara last week.

We are in the process of finding out if this is Furadan. It certainly sounds like Furadan from reports so far. Evidence will be collected and hopefully the government will conduct a full investigation to find out what happened, and to charge the offenders.

This week alone we have submitted four reports of wildlife poisoning that have occurred in the last  6 weeks or so, to the Pest Products Control Board in Nairobi. They are responsible for regulating the use of pesticides in Kenya and. Although we have not yet heard back from them, we are confident that they will conduct investigations and get back to us.

All suspected wildlife poisoning incidents that involve Furadan are also being forwarded to FMC who are working closely with the government regulators in Kenya.

One very positive outcome of this blog has been the general raising of awareness that there is somewhere to report the poisoning of wildlife in Kenya. To be more effective we need to reach other corners of Kenya and this takes time and money. Please share this information with your friends and networks and help us raise adequate funding to extend our work and reach more people and places where wildlife is silently dying.

One of our goals is to produce educational materials to share with the communties that are poisoning wildlife out of ignorance. Any help  that you can provide towards this work would be greatly appreciated.

Post Script

After posting this article I sent word out on twitter to find out if it was true and I got this response from Kimojino who tweets as @maratriangle “@paulakahumbu It’s true, over on other side of Mara. A revenge killing after the cows were killed by lions, while grazing IN the reserve.”

We’re trying to find out if it was Furadan

Tags: Birds, carbofuran, FMC, furadan, lions, Masai Mara, Poisoning wildlife, Wildlifedirect

3 responses so far

Category: carbofuran, lions | Date: May 23 2009 | By: Martin Odino

U.S. regulator announces crackdown on carbofuran, and Canadian health
authorities are considering whether to follow suit

Mark Hume Vancouver - Globe and Mail Update, Wednesday, May. 20, 2009
11:05PM EDT

A toxic agricultural pesticide blamed for killing up to 100 million birds a
year in North America and for poisoning lions in Africa, is facing a
proposed ban in Canada this summer.

Following a ruling last week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to
forbid the sale of any domestic or imported food crops that have traces of
the chemical carbofuran, Health Canada is proposing to “phase out all uses”
of the pesticide.

But the move comes decades after Canadian government officials first
learned carbofuran was wiping out everything from flocks of songbirds in
the Prairies to eagles in British Columbia.

One of the first warnings about the pesticide came in 1984 when a
Saskatchewan farmer went to inspect a canola field he’d treated with
carbofuran.

“He returned to find the bodies of several thousand Lapland Longspurs
dotting the field,” according to a report on the incident by the Canadian
Wildlife Service.

The Lapland Longspur is a sparrow-like songbird that breeds in the Arctic
and winters in open fields across southern Canada and the United States.

In 1993, Agriculture Canada published a special “discussion document” on
the chemical that states “carbofuran has one of the highest recorded
toxicities to birds of any insecticide registered for use in Canada.”

A single grain of carbofuran - the size of piece of sand - or a single
tainted earthworm can be lethal, the document says. “On the basis of kill
rates reported in company studies conducted in cornfields, it can be
concluded that the use of granular carbofuran will result in the death of a
large proportion of the songbirds breeding in and around treated fields.”

Despite such findings, the government allowed use of the pesticide to
continue.

Pierre Mineau, a research scientist with CWS and one of the world’s leading
experts on carbofuran’s environmental impact, declined an interview request
yesterday, saying he couldn’t speak without clearance.

When The Globe and Mail refused to provide questions in advance,
Environment Canada officials said Dr. Mineau was not available.

Agriculture Canada directed all questions to Health Canada, which declined
to provide anyone to be interviewed.

“Health Canada is in the process of preparing a publication on the
re-evaluation of carbofuran to be released this summer, which will be
proposing to phase out all uses,” Philippe Laroche, a ministry media
spokesman, stated in an e-mail.

“The re-evaluation of carbofuran indicates that this insecticide poses
unacceptable risks to human health and the environment,” he wrote.

Michael Fry, director of conservation advocacy for the American Bird
Conservancy, was delighted to hear Health Canada proposes following the
lead of the EPA.

“That’s great news. That’s wonderful,” he said yesterday.

He said estimates on the number of birds killed annually by carbofuran
range from 17 million to 100 million.

Asked why it has taken so long to ban the chemical when its devastating
impact on birds had been known for decades, Dr. Fry commented: “I think
there’s been a very aggressive campaign by the [manufacturing] company to
keep the pesticide on the market.”

Jim Fitzwater, a spokesman for FMC Corp., a Philadelphia company that
manufactures carbofuran under the trade name, Furadan®, said he wasn’t
aware of the Health Canada proposal.

“Let’s see what their analysis is first [before responding],” he said.

Mr. Fitzwater said FMC is planning to file an official objection to the EPA
ruling, and hopes to have that decision reviewed.

He declined to say how much Furadan® is sold in Canada, but a 1991 report
by Health Canada states that between 100,000 and 500,000 kilograms was
being used annually on crops.

Furadan® made international news in March when the CBS news program 60
Minutes reported that 75 lions had been killed in Kenya, apparently by
poachers who poisoned baits with the chemical.

FMC Corp. responded to the reports by withdrawing the chemical from the
market in Kenya.

Tags: Birds, carbofuran, EPA, FMC, lions

One response so far

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

Hi readers,

These 2 poisoned storks and indeed most storks have their necks twisted or strangled to ensure they dont escape once poisoned. Look at the necks of the above storks, almost featherless where the necks were turned around.

Yes, poverty may be a factor behind the massive bird poisoning witnessed in Bunyala. But I reckon wrong attitude is by far the greater factor behind the poisoning.

The pesticide poison, Furadan must be celebrating about 3 decades of activity in Kenya shared most likely unproportionally between indiscriminate poisoning and boosting Kenya’s agricultural productivity. No doubt the pesticide kills all nematodes, may be all pests in the soil, hence a champion pesticide. But its rogue silent killing properties spilled out to non-crop pests and turned a killer to other organisms that are not nematodes or soil worms. During this period, the pesticide has been known to be in use in Bunyala, thanks to Bunyala Rice Scheme.

This means, people in my age group in the area grew up in the epoch of furadan but surprisingly most acknowledge it as an avicide (bird poison) rather than crop, especially rice in the area nematicide. My whole point is that they have a nurtured twisted outlook of furadan and acknowledge it as the solution to wild meat requirements. This reminds me early in the month while out on the survey when on one occassion I went out with my assistant to purchase beef for supper. It was a pity that the nearest Butchery had plenty of meat but a foul smell prevailed in the butchery premises because the owner explained that peoplewere not buying meat! Jokingly, he added in vernacular that it was because ‘birds were in season!’

In one of my failed bird rescue missions, I carried back to camp a pigeon to open it up just to see how mich rice it had pecked in and how it looked like once inside the bird’s gut. The eldest of the kids at the home where we camp came around while I was just cutting through the well-fleshed breast muscles of the bird and whistled in amazement, mutering in vernacular what my assistant explained was expressing a strong wish to have the bird after we were done with it.

I could not help repremanding the boy against his misplaced desires, especially knowing that he kept a sizeable flock of domestic pigeons. We agreed that I would assist him in expanding his birds’ house so they would have more nesting space to multiply and he would have enough to eat as he wished.

Myself just about to open up the poisoned pigeon coveted by the boy

Some of the domestic pigeons kept by the boy (Peter)

In another instance, I engaged myself in a discussion with primary school boys who vehemently defended bird killing (through poisoning in Bunyala) with the bible that it is justified in christianity and that God gave us wild animals for consumption. But I told them God did not say we kill and destroy all animals like poisoning was doing. Well I seemed a little convincing so I got the opportunityto fish out my phone and show them the clip of the mara lion poisoning, leaving them shocked at the paralysis exhibited by the lions. I told them humans are not as strong as lions and so by poisoning and eating birds poisoned by furadan, they were risking their lives. Well, I must have had effect because they announced their leave but other than going on to look for poisoned birds, they walked home (but one carried away the Speckled pigeon they had picked. Check photo below).

Attitude being reversed???!the boys I engaged in discussion with.

Otherwise, the poachers are just so stubborn and badly twisted with poisoning seemingly an embedded vice in their manners, the reason furadan must be kept away from them.

Twisting backwards a Storks wing is crooked or in my words..twisted!The poacher goes further to tease the stork while holding one of its wings. The poachers are so stubborn they won’t see beyond bird poisoning.

I can only hope there are more of such settings; that the few that heed my enlightment pass it on even to younger generations. Below, the kid by my assistant should grow not to acknowledge poisoning and to uphold wildlife conservation.

Please keep reading.

Tags: Birds, furadan, Kenya, Poacher, poisoning

4 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: May 14 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Dear readers, this is a cool off post. No terror of poisoning today.The saddening gloom of this blog should actually bring hope and panacea to the poor animals suffering poisoning by furadan. Today I will write about one of the most important identification feature that I employ in this survey.

This survey has bird identification as an important component if at all the poisoning threat by furadan has to be reliably precise. The families of seedeaters are quite varied with similar species. I have had to deal with doves and weaver birds which if you are not careful, you would easily identify them wrongly and give wrong statistics as concerns species mortality attributed to furadan.

Here are a few examples, while we also acknowledge the beauty of these beautiful creatures: By the way, check the colour of the iris of the eye or the region that surrounds the pupil (the round almost consistently black part of the eye).

The photo above is the back and front views of the Yellow-backed Weaver with characteristic black eyes. It resembles the Jackson’s Golden-backed Weaver below.

You notice the red of the iris of the eye?

If you take a quick look of the bird above, you will probably identify it as 3b below, which is a female Common Quail.

But a keen look at the eye (below), you will realize ithe iris is brown (unlike for the Common Quail, 3b above which is black).

The bird is therefore actually 2b which is a female Harlequin Quail.

The doves above appear to have the same plumage but they are two different species, the African Mourning Dove (cream iris) and the Red-eyed Dove (deep red iris).

Above is an adult Speckled Pigeon. The iris looks cream. Eye colour also tells the age of the bird. Check the eye of the Speckled Pigeon below.

This immature Speckled Pigeon’s eye is brownish.

And so the eye is a useful identification feature for the birds out here in Bunyala and would be elsewhere while they also evoke different feelings attributed to the species, again useful in identification

‘Boldness’ - Spur-winged Plover

‘Alertness’ - Hammerkop

‘Fierceness’ - (immature) Black-Chested Snake-Eagle.

Tags: Birds, furadan, poisoning

3 responses so far

Category: carbofuran | Date: May 12 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Hi readers. Apparently the statement of withdrawal of Furadan by FMC from Kenya is not enough. Not when there is no public announcement by the manufacturer on the withdrawal from the Eastern African States-Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

In Kenya, as at yesterday 11/05/2009, the pesticide is found in open display in agrovets located hardly 20 miles from JUANCO’s premises, the local distributor and organization appointed by FMC to execute the local buy back of furadan. It is painfully ironical that the pesticide has been reclaimed in regions half the country away but is still found in what appears to be more than modest supplies in the neighbourhood of JUANCO. Worse is the fact that in this region, where the pesticide continues to be in supply, Kiserian, is in Kajiado District where we have had some of the cases of predator poisoning, inclusive of lions and hyenas by the same reported from.

As a matter of fact, even with 22 withdrawals of the pesticides’ uses in the USA by FMC, these were never sufficient! Furadan is therefore being banned by EPA in the US, being behind the deaths of millions of birds. Still, it is a dietery risk to humans, especially children.Read about the revocation at EPA’s site, Carbofuran Pesticide Residues in Food Revoked.

It is sad that Kenya remains a living practical example of continued bird and other willife poisoning from furadan and the effects on humans still remain enshrouded in lack of scientific expose’.

With all good intent, I feel Pesticide Control Products Board (PCPB)and Agrochemical Association of Kenya (AAK) ought to consider the significance of EPA’s move in their sound judgement as concerns furadan’s local regulation. Clearly all is not well with this deadly toxic pesticide, FURADAN.

Tags: Birds, EPA, FMC, furadan, hyena, JUANCO, Lion

2 responses so far

Category: carbofuran | Date: Apr 13 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Hi everyone.Furadan withdrawal by FMC comes with renewed hope that Kenya’s wildlife should thrive again, especially the lions and birds that have been worst hit Furadan poisoning. We acknowledge the delicate situation that comes with the withdrawal of the poison and that there may be complications resulting to continued poisoning. At Wildlife Direct and I believe the entire conservation community, we are dedicated to try and stop the situation in the least almost altogether. To this effect, we are meeting with the manufacturers of Furadan, FMC, this week as highlighted in the Richard Leakey blog and Wildlife Direct’s press release on 8/April/2009 to among other things, share and discuss the withdrawal process and related underlying issues.

In Bunyala area, I honestly anticipate incapacitated poisoning of birds even with the small scale Furadan vendors in the scene. This is because I hope their Furadan stock is dismal and will soon run out if the withdrawal process is successful. In this area, I know at least 7 pairs of captive African Open-billed Storks due to the practice of using Furadan for poisoning. My hope is that these enslaved birds will soon find freedom!

The pesticide’s withdrawal process should yield emancipation for such poor captives as in the photo above.

It has also come to my attention that most poachers are not only poachers. Some are watchmen at night, some work in the rice scheme as subordinate staff, others are herdsmen and even fishermen. However, a few are specialized poachers. Generally numerous other economic activities besides poaching take place in Bunyala. May be this is a good thing in the sense that most of the poachers have an alternative activity to fall back to. I took photos of people involved in some of these:

This fisherman traps fish in the irrigation canals of Bunyala Rice Scheme. His economic activity seems to yield gains at least nutritionwise judging from his healthy look! Honestly I cannot compare him to the diminished physiques of the bird poachers.

Some people are productively involved in the transport sector. This young man and his colleagues offer my team bicycle taxi services when we are out in Bunyala for fieldwork.

The photograph above was taken at the bank of River Nzoia, one of Kenya’s prime rivers. The final stages of the river snake through Bunyala. It is a pity that destructive economic activities, particularly vegetation clearing and charcoal burning are taking place in its vicinity.

Some engage in sand harvesting from the river as seen in the photo, probably a better undertaking if done correctly.

So, will the poachers, deprived of Furadan take to ‘back door’ sources of poison, be it Furadan or other, to continue with the unsustainable wildlife poisoning or other destructive economic activities? This is what for the sake of conservation I wish to avert. But how?

River Nzoia, above is an all year round source of water in the region.

The rains, though inconsistent, when they come they fill to flooding the plains of Bunyala with water. The photo above was taken in Bunyala just before the end of my last month’s survey. The skies were readying to send the rains down.

Bunyala is characterized by high poverty prevalence. With uncontrolled bird poisoning having evolved with the availability of Furadan, the people against their knowledge have for long suffered nutritional injustices from eating poisoned bird meat. Further, vitamin-rich foods in the area are markedly deficient. I believe harnessing the water resource appropriately can make vegetable farming possible and an attractive, lucrative venture compared to poaching, a destructive, unhealthy, time consuming and a means of survival rather than an economic developmental activity. While this will take care of nutritional needs of the community, it will satiate the economic needs of the liberated poachers. It is this option that I want to market to the poachers and will give you details while calling for your support.

Please keep reading

Tags: Birds, Bunyala, FMC, furadan, Kenya, Poacher, Richard Leakey, Wildlife Direct

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