Stop Wildlife Poisoning

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, carbofuran | Date: Sep 10 2008 | By: Martin Odino

Hi,

Since the month of June, some rains have been pattering the Kenyan soil, while wild herbivores have been doing well (even the wildebeest migration brought carnivore food to Kenya) and pastoralists are apparently not having any quarrels with carnivores (One of the significant human-wildlife conflict reasons). But even before then, since April 2008, Wildlife Direct has made a lot of noise to the public, raising attention on the wildlife poisoning that had assumed an uncontrollably wild trend. Still, some awareness has been raised with a couple of farmers showing some interest in knowing the monster behind the pesticides that they so preciously spend o for the best crop yields.I believe the two forces-noise making and favourable weather conditions- have merged to bring a seize fire on the wildlife poisoning. Unfortunately though, some renown wildlife poisoning areas are still reported with the harmful trend going on. I have summarized the information since the Stop Wildlife Poisoning Campaign by Wildlife Direct began in april, 2008 until now in maps showing the top-rated/reported poiosning areas, some of the affected wildlife in these areas and the current poisoning status in the areas in Kenya-current-wildlife-poisoning-status-in-kenya.pdf

Please keep reading our blog.

Tags: Carnivores, human-wildlife conflict, Stop Wildlife Poisoning Campaign, Wildlife Direct, wildlife poisoning

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 30 2008 | By: Martin Odino

Hi all,

In Kenya, some infuriated pastoralists have been known to set out poisoned bait to nab the culprits that killed their stock. It is however a crude technique since nobody herds the lions (other carnivores) towards the poisoned bait so that in the end the real culprit is the one condemnmed to death when he feeds on the fouled food. More oftenly, other innocent victims fall victims of the poisoning as well.

Farmers in “America’s Salad Bowl” are turning into hunters _ stalking wild pigs, rabbits and deer _ to keep E. coli and other harmful bacteria out of their fields. It’s part of an intense effort to prevent another disaster like the 2006 spinach contamination that killed three people, sickened 200 and cost the industry $80 million in lost sales. Spinach grower Bob Martin has even poisoned ponds with copper sulfate to kill frogs that might get caught in harvesting machinery or carry salmonella on their webbed feet.

It is a sad affair especially because the exact source of the contamination was never discovered, but scientists suspected cattle, feral pigs, or other wildlife may have spread the E. coli by defecating near crops.

We are not just talking of killing wildlife or amphibians. Native trees and plants are being uprooted as well and fences being erected to make the land inhospitable to wildlife. It is an entire ecosystem destruction. Couldnt the analysts and experts find out the real reason behind the vegetable poisoning? must it be that one (actually several) be destroyed to save another? May be these organisms being destroyed are not responsible for the contamination.

Tags: amphibians, Carnivores, cattle, copper sulfate, E.coli, ecosystem, feral pigs, frogs, Kenya, lions, pastoralists, poison, Wildlife

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jul 09 2008 | By: Martin Odino

There have been outcries of landmark poisoning incidences starting with ourselves here at Wildlife Direct of carnivores, scavengers- usually hyenas and vultures, and raptors (real predators rather than scavenging). No doubt these are now known to have our attention and need our acting for their survival.

History is ingrained with wild ducks as prime victims of sport hunting. In the USA, migratory duck shooting is an annual event. Northerly- southerly migrating flocks of ducks do not go without some of their members dropping down from the skies at the force of a sport- hunter’s artillery. Sometimes, though proclaimed illegal, lead bullets are used, leaving duck family members’ numbers (and definitely other living organisms) imperilled by lead poisoning. Biologists sampling the bottoms of wetlands in the US and other waterfowl hunting areas have found in some areas more than 100,000 lead pellets per acre in the upper few inches of bottom samples. Diving ducks are more likely to swallow lead shot. Snow geese and swans can dig even deeper – as much as 12 to 15 inches deeper. Kenya apparently is not free of duck shooting either, the incidence of the shooters not willing to give or even sell some of their dead ducks to National Museums of Kenya scientists for avian flu testing in Mwea early this year (2008) leaves us with a lot fear if there is no threat of lead poisoning from lead shot as well. This is however yet to be proved.

In western Kenya, some bird hunters report that in the 1990s, it was possible through carbofuran poisoning to get up to 50 ducks a day. These are mostly the white-faced whistling ducks. In May 2008, I only witnessed a pair of the ducks on one occasion, then 3 individuals on another and that was about all that I saw in 5 days. The locals admit the number of the ducks which in the past years would average flocks of at least 8 individuals has generally dived.

Yesterday (7/7/2008) I got an email from a renowned, noble, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Hon Warden David Mead, whose efforts led to deregistration of carbofuran for use in the Mwea Rice Scheme in particular reference against poisoning ducks and other waterfowl in the 1990s. He was surprised when I told him that I had been informed the previous evening (6/7/2008) that there was still poisoning going on in Mwea Rice Scheme. David did not rule it out and went on to digest for me the likely situation based on his vast experience. He revealed that where the ducks are many, there was almost certainly poisoning. This is where the poisoners target! Here’s what he wrote, “I must confess to surprise, as I have informers at Mwea who have a vested interest in keeping an eye on things. However that’s not to say it’s still not happening, but there are very few Tree Ducks on the scheme this year, when they are usually very numerous in May and June, and thus it is doubtful that it’s worth anyone’s while to attempt to catch by Furadan use on the Rice Scheme itself? I can give no valid reason for the fewer ducks, so it is quite possible they are being targeted (poisoned) on the banks of the Tana River, where they rest up prior to flying on to the scheme. They rest up several kilometers below (downstream of) the big Tana R. bridge, which is on the main Nairobi/Nyeri road….” I just wonder where the once very many ducks of Mwea and Bunyala are going..

Are the ducks numbers going down and their status up the ranks of the threat categories with the poisoning just augmenting the situation? We need to be on the lookout.

Tags: Carnivores, ducks, hyenas, National Museums of Kenya, poisoning, vultures, Wildlife Direct

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