Stop Wildlife Poisoning

Category: carbofuran | Date: May 09 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Just yesterday, I submitted samples brought back from the field for furadan testing at the recommended lab-KEPHIS- by our local Pest Control Products Board (PCPB), Crop Life Kenya. (Agrochemical Association of Kenya hence AAK) and FMC. It was disturbing listening to the expert who received them wondering loudly why I had not taken them to Government Chemist, the laboratory whose methodology was doubted by the above concerned bodies.

Frankly I could not help but wonder if this was not part of frustrating our efforts to provide evidence of furadan poisoning by the above titan bodies as far as the poison furadan is concerned. Surely, the effects of this pesticide have reached emergency levels and these guys should give proper directives for common good.

Are we just wasting time and money only to be later told that KEPHIS again is not a qualified lab? the expert at KEPHIS acknowledged that they were equiped with equipment to use HPLC, a methodology whose results are precise, as told by the FMC person at our meeting. he however said they did not have a proper pathology lab to handle animal tissues and only Government Chemist had this facility and were ‘fit’ to handle the guts of the poisoned birds. Well, I will be getting the final word from KEPHIS this week and I will ensure the samples get tested.

Getting these samples from the field has been one of the toughest challenges I have faced in this survey:

The geographical location of Bunyala in Kenya is in proximity of Lake Victoria about 10 kilometres away from the nearest lakeside port, Sio Port. Also, the equator is located not so far from here. Given these geographical conditions, humidity and temperature are almost at uncomfortable, high levels, not so favourable if dead bird samples are to be kept fresh.

Bunyala is also remote. Electricity is found in a few ldistant ocalities, while others, including where we camp still remain in the almost total natural darkness but for a few tin lamps that attempt to reduce the depth of darkness. A necessary commodity, ICE which requires electricity for it to be made and that should help preserve the tissue samples from dead birds remain fresh is therefore unavailable in the nearest shopping center.

Well, I had to beat this challenge of high temperatures exceeding 30 degrees celcius on the average. The previous day, I had someone take the cool box and ice substitute to have them readied at the next nearest shopping center where I paid a soda vendor about USD 5 to prepare some ice for me and have the ice substitute frozen . I would get the cool box and ice once we had the samples.

We got to the field as early as always but there was no sign of poisoning. My assistants however located a poacher laying out bait in the farthest western end of the rice scheme. We sped to get on our usual job of identifying and counting the living and dead birds. In one and a quarter hours, the poacher was done. Since the poisoned birds were his property, I could not lay a hand on the poisoned at will. I therefore purchased 9 birds for USD 1.25. He had poisoned 64 doves and pigeons, in total.

Brutality in life and in death! The above birds were tied by their necks to make it easy for us to carry them. That is my assistant carrying them. I would have wanted to carry them in the comfortable ringer’s grip, but I bet my two hands would not have managed to carry all of them.

We sped back to camp for a quick evisceration process, since the gut contents were my interest. I took notes on the dead birds and we got down to opening them up.Thanks to my efficient assistants who did the job quickly. Meanwhile, I had hired somebody to get the cool box and ice and he arrived just in time for us to start opening up the first bird. By 1300 hrs, we were finished and my samples ready for transportation.

A sample of the poison concortion showing dull purple furadan granules (the solute that remains after trying to dissolve furadan) and rice in husks in a bottle; dissecting kit and the cool box with the samples.

It took four hours to get to the bus station where I would get a bus to travel back to Nairobi where I would get proper freezing facilities and also the samples would be analysed. The night was cool and therefore the ice survived through the 10 hour journey.

2 days since, the samples are now in the the testing lab. Soon enough, we will have the results.

The frozen samples just before I submitted them to the testing lab.

Will keep updating you. Please keep reading.

Tags: AAK, Bunyala, FMC, furadan, Government Chemist, Kenya, KEPHIS, PCPB, Poacher, poisoning

One response so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Apr 20 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Dear readers, I am obligated to thank you all for your support hitherto. Thank you for visiting to read this blog and commenting and advising accordingly. I want to very specially also thank those of you who have donated towards this blog’s cause - to end wildlife poioning. In particular I want to recognize those donors whose email contacts I do not have and have therefore not been able to thank them personally. I am going to be using your donations for laboratory charges for testing of poisoned bird specimen brought back from the field during the April-May survey. I leave for the field this Friday 24/04/2009,and will update you on the latest from Bunyala as well as notify you on the lab testing proceedings.

A lot remains undone, especially with the campaign entering the MONITORING FOR FURADAN phase. We still need to sample agrovet stores for availability of the withdrawn pesticide by FMC. Further, not all sites, for instance are being monitored, but through your continued support I, with Wildlife Direct’s patron support, can put in place a more thorough monitoring system through supportive manpower. Mwea Irrigation Rice Scheme, a long-time bird poisoning site remains not consistently monitored. Yet there the poisoning of birds is even more secretive than Bunyala with the poisoned birds being sold to nearby low cost cafes. It is alleged that wild ducks are collected in sacks to be distributed to these eating spots.

Following our meeting with FMC last week where various concerned ecologists gathered at Wildlife Direct’s board room to meet the FMC’s representatives, it turned out that we need to have more and more of our samples tested to satisfy our local pesticide regulation bodies-Pest Control, Products Board (PCPB)and Agrochemical Association of Kenya (AAK) or Crop Life, Kenya. FMC blatantly claimed that we must make our observations scientific. In essence, they were saying that they need hard evidence of tested samples, not appreciating the fact that the costs of testing these samples are very high. Please read more about the meeting with FMC on the post Our meeting with fmc Baraza Blog.

From the meeting again, it became apparent that testing the samples at the Government Chemist Laboratory I mentioned in the post, Striving for better post-furadan poisoning days-Part 2, would possibly result in the laboratory findings not being accepted, at least by the standards of FMC, PCPB and AAK. This means we have to do our sample analysis at a different lab. The lab of choice is the KEPHIS lab-Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services. But the costs are way higher here, though the methodology and standards of the laboratory are of world class level. Each sample will cost about USD100. So, I am even still short of finances if I must get all my 10 samples from Bunyala tested. So this is the situation.

Please keep supporting me through reading, commenting and donating and…

end this barbaric poisoning frenzy and…

brighten the lives of the birds; both big and Small!

Tags: AAK, Bunyala, FMC, furadan, Government Chemist, KEPHIS, Mwea Rice Irrigation Scheme, PCPB, poisoning, Wildlife Direct

One response so far

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

I recently visited a local laboratory’s Toxicology department at the Government Chemists which is locally responsible for ultimate analysis and testing of samples from animals suspected to be poisoned. As would be routine of any science experiment, I am to get a set of crop, gizzard and intestines from birds I suspect to have been poisoned from the field in Bunyala, a control which is a set of the entrails from a bird that has not eaten the poison (I am sceptical about this because many birds eat the poison baits but survive if the poison has not attained the lethal dose), samples of the poisoning solution, and samples of the poison-laced snails. I am also to employ a vet’s services for histology or tissue analysis.

Relevance of the toxicological & histological analysis:

I have already witnessed much poisoning and may continue to witness the poisoning of birds from furadan in Bunyala but I must carry out this procedure because of two main reasons:

1. I need to present this information to the local pesticide regulation bodies, the Pesticide Control Products Board and the Agrochemical Association of Kenya to push for effective regulation as concerns furadan. This is because furadan is not locally banned and the risk infiltrating into Kenya from non-American manufactures (FMC have claimed withdrawal of their supply) is almost absolutely imminent. It therefore means it will not be illegal to continue using this compound with the current regulatons. The lab toxicological test results, if positive (which they should be) will therefore just be a form of ‘rubber stamp’ that indeed furadan is the culprit hence give more strength for our request for stricter regulation on the product if not a ban.

2. In the post, Detoxication of Furadan, I talked of how heat might be responsible for sparing consumers from being affected by furadan that has killed the birds. I however remain uncertain and this was enhanced when at the government chemists, the analysts argued that this ‘heat detoxication’ is unlikely especially because heat is used to concentrate furadan in the test samples and does not destroy the chemical. Yet again from the argument of draining of all fluids from the poisoned meat before it is cooked one analyst stated that this did not necessarily mean that it was gotten rid off in the tissues and therefore only histological procedures would reveal if the chemical gets to the tissues beyond the digestive system. This is especially in birds that get disoriented since they have not consumed the poison up to the lethal dose limit and the chemical continues circulating in the body therefore a higher possibility that some gets to the tissues which is what is consumed by humans.

To facilitate this important exercise, I am kindly calling for your support especially in purchase of some equipmet and samples’ analysis costs to be paid to government chemist and the vet analyst. This is the breakdown:

1. Cool box - USD150

2. Vials (10 vials-sizeable to carry a set of gizzard, crop and intestines from each bird) - USD75

3. Toxicological analysis charges charges on the 10 samples - USD200

4. Histological analysis charges - USD100

TOTAL - USD525

Kindly support me to get these samples tested which will provide stronger back up for my results and in our confrontation for better local legislation of the chemical which has already cost biodiversity a big blow and most likely continues to cost human lives.

Please help end this altogether…..and ensure that next time we hold our visiting birds we will be ringing them for conservation purposes and not consoling them with a comfortable ringer’s grip in time of their death.

Tags: Agrochemical Association of Kenya, Bunyala, FMC, Government Chemist, Kenya, Pesticide Control Products Board

3 responses so far