WildlifeDirect has been raising the alarm about cattle in Kenya’s parks for some time know – cattle grazing in the park will lead to conflict with lions and this has an inevitable outcome. CAttle will die and then lions will be killed  in retaliation.  We warned of diseases when cattle started dying in the parks, and Dino wrote about it in his blog dudu diaries here.  The authorities ignored our comments and concerns about the cattle invasion when we warned that an Anthrax outbreak would affect cattle, wildlife and people.  I even went on radio about it and finally it seems, people woke up and began to listen.

In a recent article in the Daily Nation, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) admitted that

“A total of 10 lions have been killed by herders who have lost their cattle to the large cats. In one case, farmers poisoned a carcass and it left for the lions. It killed not just a lion, but also 300 vultures that ate the carcasses of the cow and the lion”.

No doubt these ten lions were from one pride and were poisoned. The loss of 300 vultures suggests that the poisoning was widespread – this could not have been just one incident.We will try to get details on what actually happened and determine if carbofuran was to blame.

The head of the Species Program, Mr Omondi,  warned herders that they should expect to lose some of their animals if they choose to break the law and let them graze in protected areas.

The problem of livestock in game reserves which WildlifeDirect raised on Kiss FM Radio as well as through our blogs is so serious that it has consumed the greatest budget line for KWS during recent months.

The KWS says that the greatest challenge it faces is that in Reserves like the Maasai Mara, the management authority, the Narok County Council, turns a blind eye to the herders. Sadly the same is true of KWS who have for years allowed grazers into parks during annual dry seasons.To date we do not know of a single herder that has been prosecuted for illegal grazing, or of poisoning lions, vultures, hyenas or other animals.

This story reveals just how difficult it is for KWS to control the situation and protect Kenya’s lions.  Lions live mainly in areas that are not under KWS control. Many protected areas are poorly managed. There is nothing stopping herders from entering parks and reserves – even if one is caught, there are no penalties. Moreover, there are no incentives for communities to protec t lions and other wildlife outside of the protected areas. When  livestock are killed, the KWS is supposed to compensate owners, but this is a lengthy and controversial if not poorly managed process. Add tho this the easy access to pesticides like deadly carbofuran and any pastoralist can solve the problem of predation in an instant. Just a few granules of the purple killer will deal with an entire pride plus any other stragglers or plike hyenas.

Music provided by Kevin McLeod incompetech.com – to all you out there who have stood by us we  Thank you! Your support gives us strength.

Dear Friends, this report is just in from Arusha from a colleague. We will get photos shortly.

“I met a guy who confessed that Furadan has been recently (2weeks ago)
used to kill 5 lions around Serengeti. TANAPA are investigating and
they have taken samples of the dead lions to establish the actual
poison. The story was; the lions killed a giraffe near a maasai boma.
The Maasai, fearing the lions would attack their livestock after
finishing the giraffe, they laced the remaining giraffe carcass with
furadan. That evening the lions came back and 5 of them were found
dead near there the following morning!! There is a lot of Furadan in
Arusha. I bought a 500 gms from the Tanzania farmers association shop
at an equivalent of $15. Kisamo (TANAPA) promised he would share the
lab findings of the samples once they are out. He will also send us
the photos when he gets them from the guys who went to the ground when
the incident occurred! I am sure we won’t win the battle if Tanzania
still has the furadan distributed by JUANCO from Nairobi.”

Dear friends

I have just come back from the Masai Mara where a lion was poisoned on 25th May. The Masai told me that it is not unusual for lions to be poisoned,  indeed they said 5 had been poisoned just 2 months ago!I went to a local agrovet store in Narok town to ask for Furadan but they did not have any. At first the store keeper told me where I could get it but after I pressed him for directions he refused and said in fact there was not anywhere.

I bought some Karate -the pesticide that the Government chemist now says killed the lion and vultures. I opened the packet and found the chemical to be white granules and not pink which the KWS vet described. I’m still not convinced that this was the pesticide used but the agrovet was very suspicious about my motives so I didn’t ask any more questions.

I spent 3 days on community conservancies where the lions are aggressively protected  – we saw 7 lions I couldn’t help watching them as they fed on an elephant carcass, and feel  shiver – the entire pride could have been wiped out if just one nasty person had the will to lace the carcass. Ten hyenas, five jackals and about 50 vultures would go too. It’s just so easy it’s frightening.

Some good news came today in our East African news paper which did a double page spread on Furadan. This weekly newspaper is carried throughout East Africa so we hope that it has an impact. One part of the story quotes the Pest Control Board official as saying that the we are wasting our time and suggests that the government does not have the apetite to ban Furadan or carbofuran.

“However, according to an official of the Kenya Pest Control and Products Board who is not authorised to talk to the press, it is business as usual at the board as “the board is not convinced that the chemical poses any danger to humans and wildlife.”

The conservationists are cheating themselves. Unless a proper legislative act is put in place, the status quo remains,” he told The EastAfrican”.

I hope this person  gets to eat his words very soon!

I’m also pleased to see a story in the Huffington Post by Luke Hunter about FMC, Furadan and lions. The message is the same as we’ve been saying all along, and I would love to talk to Luke about what we know and are seeing here in Kenya.

And then I had some horrible news. I just got a call from a friend Kuki Gallman in Laikipia. She was in hospital recovering after being attacked by bandits who broke her arm. The area she lives in sounds quite volatile but she is dedicated to conservation and always alerts me when any animals are poached. She told me today that she believes that three elephants were poisoned with Furadan which in that area is applied to the maize cobs in the nearby farms. Elephants raid the farms at night and eat the laced cobs, and it takes a week for them to die. Kuki told me that the elephants begin to drool and stumble, and they appear to go blind. After a week of suffering they die. She said she also lost a lion to poisoning, she believes it was killed with Furadan – she says everyone uses it.

The BBC asked me today if the FMC buy back had led to a decline in poisoning incidents. While you can’t get Furadan openly in any of the stores, it clearly has not yet had the effect – we still see birds being poisoned every day in Bunyala. The Furadan is coming from somewhere.

Despite the mountain of evidence about how hazardous carbofuran is to peope and wildlife, the US manufacturer, FMC intend to fight the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to revoke carbofuran tolerances on food.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if instead of fighting to keep a deadly and unwanted pesticide on the market, FMC turned the tables and offered to clean up the problem, pay for the devastation to wildlife and it’s restoration, and began the production of eco friendly alternatives to agricultural pest control?

While we await the formal hansard or parliamentary transcripts regarding the discussion on whether to ban carbofuran in Kenya, this is the summary of what transpired in parliament last Tuesday according to KWS. Note the final table that documents a alarming number of affected species. In recommendations it is suprising that KWS does not come out strongly and recommend banning carbofuran.

MINISTRY OF FORESTRY AND WILDLIFE

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION NO. 087

The member for Naivasha (Hon. John Mututho, MP) to ask the Minister for Environment and Mineral Resources:

(a)             If the Minister is aware of the airing of a damaging documentary on the Kenya in International Media on the 14^th April, 2009 CBS, a television network in USA, regarding death of lions in a Kenyan park?

(b)             If he can confirm that the pride of Seven (7) lions found dead in the parks were as a result of Furadan Poisoning ; and

(c)             When the Minister will, through NEMA, effect immediate ban of Furadan chemical, pending further investigations?

ANSWER

Mr. Speaker Sir, I beg to reply:

(a)    I am aware of the airing of a documentary on Sunday, March 29^th 2009 at 7 pm Eastern Time in the U.S on the CBS television network on lion deaths in Kenya occasioned by a pesticide locally known as Furadan. Although, the documentary was not screened on any of Kenya’s television stations, a commentary appeared in one of the daily news papers indicating that 75 lions were killed by furadan poisoning throughout the country. Records kept by KWS indicate that indeed 76 lions were killed by such poisoning between 2001 and 2009. Of these, 3 lions died of such poisoning in the Mara in March of 2008.

(b)    No; I can not confirm that the seven (7) lions aired in this documentary were as a result of Furadan Poisoning.

Records at the KWS indicate that only five lions died in the year 2008 as a result of Furadan poisoning. These incidences happened in the Mara Triangle and the Amboseli ecosystem areas were three and two cases were respectively reported and confirmed by the government chemist and through confessions by the people who poisoned the animals.

(c)    Following the lion poisoning cases in the Mara, Farm Machinery and Chemicals (FMC) the US manufacturer of furadan stopped further importation of the product to the country and further to the CBS documentary; FMC is in the process of buying back furadan from the Kenyan market.

In addition my Ministry is spearheading the creation of an Inter-Ministerial Task Force on Wildlife Poisoning in Kenya that will provide leadership and guidance on this matter.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Furadan and its effects

Carbofuran is the most toxic of the carbamate pesticides. It is manufactured under the trade name Furadan by Farm Machinery and Chemicals (FMC) Corporation of the US. Its correct use is to control pests in a wide variety of field crops.

Furadan usage has increased in recent years in Kenya as it is available in 88% of agro vet outlets. As Furadan is highly toxic to wildlife and is affordable, people have found it easier and simpler to use it against wildlife. Laboratory tests have shown that acute oral toxicity occurs in domestic cats at a consumption rate of 2.5-3.5mg/kg of body weight. A cat that weighs 3kg requires as low as 7.5mg to cause death. When this is extrapolated for lions whose average weight is 189kg, it would take 472.5mg (0.47g) to kill an adult lion (315mg for an adult lioness whose average weight is 126kg). This indicates the low dosages of Furadan can cause chronic toxicity in lions.

Several cases of Furadan poisoning have been reported to KWS with some cases being confirmed by the Government Chemist and or by confessions made by people who poisoned the animals. These cases reported to KWS span from the period between 1995 to 2008. Records indicate a total of 76 lions have been killed in this manner.

Our major concern is that the number of reports of Furadan associated wildlife deaths in Kenya are on the increase. Moreover, Furadan is an agrochemical that should be used in agriculture but majority of the cases reported occurred far away from agricultural areas indicating that furadan is intentionally used to kill wildlife, especially carnivores. The attached tables gives a summary of wildlife killed by Furadan poisoning since 1995 to date and table two indicates the lions killed by Furadan poisoning from 2002 to date.

COUNTER MEASURES.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the equivalent of NEMA in the US, proposed the banning of furadan in the US on 24^th July 2008 because of concerns similar to ours. The Farm Machinery and Chemicals Company (FMC) Corporation has since stopped all shipments of this product to Kenya and is in the process of buying back the product in the Kenyan Market.

This is a relief to Kenya; however there is need for intense Public education and awareness creation about the correct use of pesticides and their effects both negative and positive on the environment.

The situation is now critical as numerous other pesticides are available in the Kenyan market that can potentially be misused to kill wildlife and their ecosystems. KWS recommends the formation of an Inter-ministerial Task Force on Wildlife Poisoning which will provide leadership in this matter. The task force would comprise key stakeholders that include but not limited to KWS, PCPB, AAK, DVS, NEMA, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Public Health.

Paula’s comments

Readers should be aware that we were informed that the Minister for Wildlife directed that the inter-ministerial task force be created more than a year ago – just after the lion poisoning incident was reported in the Mara. To date it has not been formed. We hope that the Parliamentary instructions will be followed.

We at WildlifeDirect and many other conservationists welcome the openness and transparency that we are seeing from KWS over the poisoning of wildlife issues. We restate our desire to work closely with KWS on this and other conservation issues in and beyond Kenya. We also welcome FMC’s buy back and withdrawal of Furadan.

However the voluntary withdrawal is just not good enough for 3 key reasons.

1. FMC retains the right to re-introduce Furadan at any time
2. Furadan has been shown to be unsafe for use in USA where tolerance levels have been revoked by the EPA. If it s not safe enough for Americans, then it’s not safe enough for us, or anyone anywhere. See how most birds died in pick -up truck loads! These were accidental poisonings related to the proper use of carbofuran. How can we condone such a pesticide in a country that is renown for its wildlife?
3. A ban creates the necessary awareness  that KWS correctly states is essential to fight the devastating effects of wildlife poisoning.

We will continue to support the call for a total ban on carbofuran in Kenya and East Africa.  Please help us, support this campaign and join us in the fight against carbofuran poisoning of wildlife. Thank you all for your great support.

KWS highly suspect that Furadan (carbofuran) was used to kill the lion, hyenas and 36 vultures in the Masai Mara on the 25th June. Although sample analysis had not yet been concluded, all signs point to Furadan. We applaud KWS and the Narok warden of the Mara for taking such swift action on this incident and for arresting the perpetrators of this destruction. Our own inquiries suggest that up to 8 other lions of this pride my have been affected by this poisoning incident, though this has not been confirmed.

AP put out this press release today

MASAI MARA, Kenya – Kenya’s 2,000 lions are at grave risk from repeated drought and a poisonous pesticide that wildlife officials on Thursday blamed for at least 76 deaths since 2001.

The problems have contributed to the country’s lion population falling by 700 in the last six years, said Charles Musyoki, a senior scientist with the Kenya Wildlife Service. The figures were based on counts carried out every two years.

Officials in the protected 1,510-sq. kilometers (585-sq. miles) of the Masai Mara National Reserve showed an Associated Press reporter on Wednesday the remains of an 8-month-old lion and 36 dead vultures that fed on a tainted cow carcass.

Government scientists are still analyzing samples to determine the poison that killed the animals.

Government scientists say that at least 76 lions have been killed since 2001 after eating prey contaminated by a pesticide marketed as Furadan by Philadelphia-based FMC Corp.

FMC Corp. did not immediately return phone and e-mail messages seeking comment Thursday.

The pesticide is used in Kenya to control insects on crops such as corn, rice and sorghum.

Pesticide imports stopped
Forestry and Wildlife Minister Noah Wekesa told Parliament on Tuesday that FMC has stopped the importation of Furadan into Kenya.

KHALIL SENOSI / AP Warden James Sindiyo at the remains of an 8-month-old lion and 36 vultures in Masai Mara National Reserve.

FMC has said it stopped sales of Furadan to Kenya following a report in May 2008 that the pesticide may have been involved in poisoning lions and has instituted a buyback program in Kenya to remove any remaining product from the market.

Musyoki said that herdsmen were also killing lions to protect their livestock that share the large semi-arid reserves with the lions.

The official said the herdsmen had to be taught the importance of the animals to the economy. Tourists flock to the country to see Kenya’s big five — the lion, buffalo, elephant, leopard and rhino.

“I don’t foresee a time when we can eliminate the lion-human conflict but we can minimize it,” said Musyoki. “The only bank account a pastoralist has is his animal. If a lion kills two cows out of four … that is like the disappearance of 50 percent of his account.”

According to authorities in the Masai Mara one person has been arrested in connection with the poisoning of a lion, hyenas and many vultures last week.

However, there is growing evidence that Furadan is viewed primarily for pest control in parts of Kenya. I just got this in from a tour operator

” A Maasai friend of mine who is cultivating just outside Narok told me he and his group keep seeing their shambas raided by baboons and some of the group wanted to get rid of the baboons using Furadan. Seems to be the method of choice for Maasai to deal with human / wildlife conflict. I urged him to dissuade his group from doing this”.

We will try to get more specifics on this incident. Meanwhile The Oregon Department of Agriculture has fined five Malheur County onion growers for misusing pesticides not labeled for use on their crops. The civil fines, totaling $180,000, are connected with the application of Furadan and Basagran on 18 fields during the 2008 growing season. Neither Furadan nor Basagran are approved for onions in Oregon. Investigators had found 18 fields with residues of products not labeled for use on onions.

In Kenya there is no regular investigations into proper pesticide use, and we have not found a single case where anyone has ever been found guilty of mis-use, let alone penalised for it.

On Monday a man was shot dead by KWS for killing a black rhino for it’s horn in Laikipia.

It  will be interesting to see if KWS or the PCPB will pursuse a case against the criminals involved in the poisoning of lion, hyenas, vultures and baboons in the Mara.

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

MWEA, SAMBURU, KANO PLAINS, MARA FINDINGS

Hi all. I have been back in the office for 3 days having just toured some of the areas where there has been documentation of carbofuran poisoning. All seems well at the gaze with the full spectacle of the wild animals and birds feeding, playing and even in the act that will culminate in breeding. But is all really well? Indeed it is good news of no poisoning for some places and still bad news of poisoning for others. Nonetheless, for the good news I managed a smile on the last day or is it night of the trip.

Yesterday I received a call alert (‘flash’) from an unfamiliar number. I flashed back but no return flash to signify any urgency. I ignored the number but while I scrolled through my call log to make another call this morning, I stumbled on the number that I was flashed with yesterday. It then struck my mind that I had noted down some numbers during the field trip. I checked my field note book and there I stumbled on it! It belonged to a certain guy in Mwea who I had approached and faked that I needed bird meat. We had then fixed a meeting for early this month. We agreed that he would alert me when he was ready and that he would link me with a bird meat vendor who poisoned the birds. You would not suspect that such a deal can take place in such a place especially given that everybody else seemed busy planting rice.

In the neighbourhood of Kisumu town, in Kano plains, some kilometres past the site that was Ahero Rice Scheme, there is an out grower scheme where locals are growing rice on individual rice plots. During a short stop over, I observed a lot of birds flocked in the place and a couple of farmers were out working in their plots. I talked to one old woman to know if the birds were not a problem at harvest time. She said they were indeed but her grandchildren would chase them away by wails and beating of metal cans. I then asked her if she thought killing of some of the birds would be a solution but she said she did not think it was necessary adding that in any case, birds were being poisoned for meat. I then confirmed that after all, there is poisoning in the area. For a while there was on-going bird poisoning in Ahero Rice Scheme but with the stalling of the operations of the rice scheme, bird congregations have reduced and Furadan supply for use in the irrigation scheme also cut, bringing a cessation in the poisoning frenzy.

Samburu NR seemed all tranquil, with the expected heat dominating the local climatic conditions and emphasizing ‘this is Samburu’. For three days I roamed the reserve with my friend and spotted many carnivores and scavengers. We got to see six lionesses in total but were disturbed that we had spotted no lions absolutely during the three whole-day drives around the national reserve. In fear that poisoning might have taken the lives of quite many of these I ended up talking to an expert in the area who advised me to relax and that the kings of the jungle were around, not always in company of their ‘wives’ and there were strategic localities where these could be found. I was glad the place was safe for the time despite earlier recorded incidences of carnivore poisoning in the area, though she added that she was in the process of getting to find out more about poisoning in the area.

Masai Mara also turned out looking good. I even passed by the Mara Conservancy incognito. The area has had the most recently documented cases of poisoning-this year, 2008. With hippos and lions as the reported victims, both seemed to do just fine. It was captivating witnessing lion/lionesses feasting, playing and in the act of breeding in one encounter.
The lioness below took advantage and got “the lion’s share!”

while the lion paid attention to his queen in an imminently heated up act that would bring forth another generation!

The vultures on the other hand looked good sprawled on the grass, not dead but waiting for thermals.

While others did not mind the flies after an unpoisoned meal.

Generally the presence of the Gnu on the first of their biannual migration to and from (Tanzania for this case) Kenya and Tanzania enhanced the bountifulness of wildlife in the Mara. Isn’t this beautiful?

Keep reading our Wildlife Direct’s blog for the latest in the wildlife poisoning scene.