Stop Wildlife Poisoning

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

When rice is harvested, the lush irrigation waterered wetlands that are the Bunyala rice fields lose their plush conditions that draw numerous birds in the area. During such times, the water birds that visit the site to gorge on aquatic life forms therefore gradually thin out as they depart to other sites that can meet their food requirements. For a moment, the bird diversity in the rice scheme lapses to almost none, may be only leaving behind grassland birds alone, the likes of cisticolas and pipits.

In my March-May survey, I have watched the Bunyala rice field wetland get dehydrated with the closure of irrigation waterways water supply. Focused on African Open-billed Storks which rank amongst the top if not the topmost of the poisoned birds, and which rely on the water from which they derive their snail food, I noticed their dwindling flock numbers. Usually poachers target whole flocks especially incoming, less suspecting, new flocks which will quickly come down where stork decoys are set with bait around them and start gobbling down the noxious food bait.

In my most recent survey, only one flock of 56 African Open-billed Storks had been around for much of the first week. During the time, I witnessed its cruel decapitation to none by the poisoning poachers. They competed for poisoning its members, laying bait at nearly any other conner of the field and the flock seemed to always land where there was bait, of course with the appropriate herding by the poachers. In the end, I counted and recorded 53 poisoned birds of the flock. I might have missed the poisoning of the last 3 or may be they took off having noticed the disappearence of their coleagues.

Shrinking Stork flock numbers due to drying up of irrigation water after harvesting hence declined snail food.

For the few days that followed, I quietly rejoiced as the poachers came to scout for a new flock but always ended riding away at the realization that there were no birds of their choice for them to poison.

Closing shop?The poachers riding away. The larger sack hanging on the shoulder of the poacher on the carrier seat has bait while the two smaller sacks are emaciated, traumatized decoy storks each for either of the poachers.

The poacher on the bicycle ‘gyr’ in action on a good day.

I was wrong to expect at least a temporary ceasation of bird poisoning due to the prevalent little bird food availability at the irrigation scheme. Bird poisoning in Bunyala goes beyond the rice scheme. Historically, furadan availed to the farmers to use in their rice plots sparked the bird poisoning frenzy, with congreagating birds in the rice scheme being an easy target.

This would however not always be the case, especially following the burning of chaff from threshing the rice (done manually through beating with sticks to separate grain from stalk). Where the threshing is done, there is grain that remains behind and seedeaters come to feast on it. It is such opportunities that the poachers then take advantage of and scatter poison bait amongst the grain left behind at threshing, killing enmass the unsuspecting seedeaters. Coupled with halted irrigation, the irrigation scheme remains almost deserted by the birds.

Burning chaff and stalks after threshing the grain.

I chose to survey another site and so while traversing the fields to another outgrowers site, I noticed patches of scraped off grass in the field. My assisitant explained that these were used for laying bait targetting plovers, which are very hard birds to target and somehow need obvious laying out of bait.

So, another family, actually two species of grassland plovers joined the list of poisoned birds. These are the Senegal Plover and Spur-winged Plover.

A Spur-winged Plover

A Senegal Plover

I reckon the poachers were still in business afterall and had not temporarily closed shop as I had thought. A boy then came by and added that other birds would come to the bait points when the fierce plovers were a little far and also meet their death. They include the Wattled Plovers, Pipits and Longclaws.

But with bird poisoning business slowed down , I had the opportunity to talk to some of the poachers. I even showed them some of the birds that were in my guide book but due to man’s introgression, they had become very rare or even extirpated and their only reminder were the photos in the guide book. Amongst man’s selfish activities I told them I was sorry but their insane poisoning fell in this category. Perusing through the guide book pages, they noticed two birds that they acknowledged they are no longer as abundant and that they had been a favorite poisoning target at some point in time passed. These were Grey Crowned Cranes and the White-faced Whistling Ducks.

Poachers ‘learning something’

I hope this poachers scratching of his head at my mention of their wild poisoning as one of the activities pushing birds to their disappearence meant genuine remorse, or he was hiding from the camera.

Head-scratching poacher on a fruitful day.

The not so common White-faced Tree Ducks; victims of poisoning?

Grey-crowned cranes. Also victims of past poisoning? It is the only pair I kept seeing during my 11 days out there.

How extensive this practice is I may not even correctly establish given the time and resources but one thing I am sure is that it is intensive and almost leaves no bird species as a target. I have gone as close to the nearby dead end demarcation of Bunyala area which is Lake Victoria 10 km away and the activity extends that far. I am talking of a focus of poisoning extending about 10 km radius and almost certainly extending beyond with furadan poisoning of fish taking over offshore in Lake Victoria may be into Uganda…and Tanzania!

Lord save us!

Unmistakably, Furadan 5G.

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Tags: bird, Bunyala, fish, furadan, Llake Victoria, poachers, poisoning

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