Baraza

Category: Poisoning wildlife | Date: Apr 23 2008 | By: admin

We are in the final stages of planning for our big meeting on Friday. I’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to this effort so far. We are especially grateful to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, IFAW, who have helped significantly in funding this meeting. The meeting to discuss the illegal use of Furadan to poison wildlife takes place at 9.30 am at the Silversprings Hotel on Friday, and will be opened by our chairman Richard Leakey. We have been working feverishly to coordinate the numbers which keep swelling! I can’t tell you how excited yet nervous we all are that there is so much interest and concern about the use of poisons against wildlife that we have had to move the venue from our office to accommodate the 50 or so confirmed participants.

We’re especially pleased that Martin Odino from Nairobi University who has recently completed a survey on the use of Furadan in Kenya with Darcy Ogada from the National Museums of Kenya will be here to present results from a recent survey. A report that they sent us earlier reveals some alarming facts

1. Furadan use in Kenya came about with the banning of DDT and it has been argued by some that we should not ban Furadan as it would only lead to the use of yet more dangerous poisons
2. Unlike other dangerous poisons, the control of Furadan is lax and it can be obtained in virtually any agricultural chemical outlet with no documentation or permits required.
3. Furadan was banned in USA in the 1980s due to its effects on birds which ate the granules mistaking them for seed. The product is still produced in the west and exported to countries like Kenya which does not produce.
4. Furadan is one of the most lethal pesticides available, and is so effective that it is the preferred poison for pest control including cats, dogs, squirrels, predators, reptiles and birds. It is also the cheapest.
5. Most users of Furadan for purposes of poisoning pests have no idea what it is and receive it from someone else. They do not even have the instructions on how to use it.
6. Concerns about use of Furdan were raised 15 years ago in Kenya and the industry promised to look into a different formulation – this was not effected due to cost implications
7. The company that distributes Furadan in Kenya has no representative that we can reach in Kenya!

Intrigued with their claims that it is easily accessible I went shopping this morning for Furadan! I visited an agricultural chemical outlet near my home, my friend did the talking. He mentioned that jackals were killing my chickens and he needed to kill them. He was sold this packed of Furadan for Ksh 200 (about $3). He was told it was effective against anything – from rats, cats, dogs etc to lions and leopards.

We visited 3 different shops and all said the same – though one had sold out! One shop warned that if the Kenya Wildlife Service found out we could be arrested. But that didn’t stop them from selling it. None of them told us that the chemical was supposed to be used only for agricultural purposes only!

I called the distributors of Furadan in Kenya Juanco SPS Inc, who insisted that the formulation could not kill wild animals. I told them we had evidence, photos, film and dead animals. They seemed surprised that shop sellers were advising customers to use it as poison, because its against the law and because the concentration of the chemical was halved after the last complaints were heard many years ago. I sent them a report with and asked them to come to the meeting.

I then called the Pesticide Control Board and told them what had happened. They expressed shock and surprise. They had received our invitation and hadn’t responded. The call seemed to add urgency and later called their Managing Director who said she was ready to support initiatives to ensure the proper use of these chemicals. This is where there is a huge grey area - could the proper use of this chemical be dangerous to wildlife? If so then we could challenge it’s very use in Kenya. If not we need a different strategy to ensure it is not used inappropriately.

I have to admit that I’m feeling quite anxious yet hopeful about this meeting. I’m aware that it could go horribly wrong, we could all end up arguing and fighting and alienating one another.

Or, we could trigger the change that is needed, galvanize action and bring together the diverse players – communities, government regulatory agencies, scientists, land owners, and the agricultural chemical industry. If anyone can do this it is Richard Leakey. We discussed strategy and agreed that at this stage we need as many supporters on our side as we continue to gather information, and work with all the stakeholders. We will post the presentations and films here in coming days and invite you to participate through the blog forum, send us emails with documents you may have to info@wildlifedirect.org

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