Africa’s lions are in trouble! That’s the conclusion of a comprehensive study that has just been released confirming lion numbers have dropped to 32,000, from nearly 100,000 just 50 years ago. The study by Dr Stuart Pimm and associates at Duke University was published online in this week’s journal Biodiversity and Conservation here. This is the most comprehensive assessment of lion numbers to date.

WildlifeDirect has been raising concern that lions in Africa are threatened due to loss of habitat and killings as a result of human wildlife  conflict on our blogs here on Baraza as well as on Stop Wildlife Poisoning  and lion guardians. In Kenya pesticides are used to poison at least half of those lions killed.  Less than 25% of lion habitat, savanna’s, remain in Africa. Last week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiated a study to determine whether to list African lions under the Endangered Species Act which would ban hunters from bringing lion trophies back into the United States even if hunts are legal. We are committed to raising global awareness about the problem and promoting workable solutions like the lion proof fences and the invention of a 13 year old Maasai boy Richard Turere  – lion lights.

Dear Friends Lions, wildebeest and many other animals are disappearing Africa. Here is why

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This was the  talk that Paula Kahumbu gave during the Explorers week at National Geographic when she was awarded status as a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and is a recipient of funds from the National Geographic Big Cats Initiative.

Please share and send us your comments

Thank you Paolo Torchio for several photographs used in this presentation

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Dear Friends,

This was in Toda’s Nation Newspaper

Pesticide devastating Kenya’s wildlife

The Board itself is highly compromised. Located in the Ministry of Agriculture, it cannot be an industry watchdog looking out for the interests of human and environmental health when it is the industry itself that is the main user of these chemicals. No wonder it is allergic to any suggestion of pesticide product bans

For more information visit our Stop  wildlife poisoning blog

WildlifeDirect Executive Director Dr. Paula Kahumbu has for the second time this year won a National Geographic award after being declared the winner of the prestigious National Geographic Society/Buffet Award for Leadership in African Conservation. Moi Enomenga, a community leader of the Huaorani people from the Ecuadorian Amazon, who is working to preserve his cultural heritage and the forests where his people live, is the winner of the award for South America. Previously, in May 2011, Dr. Kahumbu was named – together with 13 other trailblazers – as a National Geographic Emerging Explorer for 2011.

Kahumbu and Enomenga have been recognized for their “outstanding leadership and the vital role they play in managing and protecting the natural resources in their regions. They are inspirational conservation advocates who serve as role models and mentors in their communities,” said Peter Raven, chairman of the Conservation Trust, the body that screens the submitted nominations.

Kahumbu’s award is in recognition of her work at WildlifeDirect. As the Executive Director of WildlifeDirect, she uses the power of the Internet to spotlight key conservation issues and raise awareness and donations for projects saving wildlife and wild places. Thanks to her efforts, about 120 conservation projects have an online platform to share challenges and victories via blogs, videos, photos and podcasts, saving species from ants to lions. By celebrating the work of conservation heroes, Kahumbu has turned WildlifeDirect into a tool to advocate for and share home-grown conservation solutions to such challenges as ivory and rhino horn poaching, roads through parks, climate change and wildlife conflict in areas that neighbor parks.

The National Geographic/Buffet Award for conservation leadership in Africa is given to one African conservation leader every year by Howard Buffet the president of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, which focuses on humanitarian and conservation issues. The award is the greatest accolade that Kahumbu has ever received for her work. She will be presented with the award and a cash prize of USD 25,000 on the 21st of June at a ceremony at the National Geographic Society.

Read the press release announcing the two winners at the National Geographic website

Who is Paula Kahumbu?

Coached and mentored by legendary Kenyan conservationist Dr. Richard Leakey, who remains one of her closest allies and supporters, Nairobi, Kenya-born Kahumbu has had an illustrious career more than spanning two decades. Her entry into conservation work was marked by one of the most memorable event in the history of elephant conservation when she was assigned the task of weighing Kenya’s ivory stockpile prior to the 1989 ivory burning ceremony – a powerful international statement that Kenya would not tolerate the effect of the trade in ivory on her elephants. She would later deliver passionate and forceful speeches at two consecutive conferences of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as head of the Kenya delegation – while working for the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) – to the convention.

Kahumbu’s achievements are numerous. While conducting her PhD research on elephants in Shimba Hills at the Kenya coast, Shestarted the Colobus Trust – a volunteer organization that conserves the black and white colobus and other primates in the resort beachfront of Diani – and introduced the colbus bridges or “colobridges” to help the monkeys cross the busy Diani highway. All the while, she was singlehandedly raising her 2 year old son Joshua – now a grown man serving in the US Navy.

After attaining her doctorate from the prestigious Princeton University, Kahumbu would briefly return to KWS before joining Bamburi Cement where she launched the environmental subsidiary, Lafarge Eco Systems. She published the best selling childrens book, Owen and Mzee (Scholastic Press), the story of the giant tortoise that adopted a baby hippo orphaned by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. The book sold more than 1 million copies and is translated into 27 languages.

Kahumbu joined WildlifeDirect in 2007 and spearheaded its growth into Africa’s largest wildlife conservation blogging platform. With a keen eye, she noticed reports of poisoning of wildlife in several blogs. The poison used in all cases was Furadan, an American made pesticide formulation of the lethal chemical carbofuran. She documented the massive nationwide misuse of Furadan for killing lions, other predators, scavengers and wetland birds and the catastrophic decline of Kenya’s lion and vulture populations that this caused. KWS estimate a population of fewer than 2000 lions and the vulture population is said to have declined by between 50% and 80% due to poisoning. Kahumbu led a campaign against Furadan resulting in the manufacturer, FMC Corporation of Philadelphia, withdrawing the product from East African market but it still is in use and birds and fish are still being poisoned. Kahumbu still campaigns for a total ban and revocation of licenses for the deadly poison.

Kahumbu is known for her passion and recently, she has taken up the task of ensuring that development in the outskirts of Nairobi City do not compromise the wellbeing of the wildlife of Nairobi National Park, the city’s ‘green’ jewel. Convinced that the park is integral to the value of the city for instance, she has persuaded many organizations including KWS, ILRI, the community, AWF, the Wildlife Foundation, ACC, the Friends of Nairobi National Park, the Kenya Land Conservation Trust, WildlifeDirect, private land owners and many others to conduct an ecosystem wide wildlife census that will help guide the decisions taken by the ministry of transport regarding the controversial Greater Southern Bypass. She chairs the board of the volunteer organization, Friends of Nairobi National Park, whose sole mission is to preserve the beautiful and unique park.

Kahumbu’s education and passion for championing the environment cause has greatly influenced others to take up the mantle. William Kimosop, who recently opened a hiking trail across Kenya’s Great Rift Valley to conserve the Greater Kudu and connect communities through ecotourism, and Anthony Kasanga who saves lions in the Mbirikani area near Tsavo National Park – and who recently returned from Oxford University with a diploma in wildlife management after being spotted by the prestigious school on the WildlifeDirect blogs – are just a couple of the many she has inspired.

Kahumbu recently launched a partnership with Screaming Reels Production where she presents the documentary series, Wildlife Sentinels, reporting on news from the conservation frontline and bringing to light the ivory trade, poaching, human wildlife conflict and other real life wildlife stories.

“All Kenyans should be thrilled that Paula has been recognized for her achievements through the National Geographic/Howard Buffet Award. She is the country’s most passionate advocate for wildlife conservation and has made enormous personal sacrifices to protect it. Her efforts to have the pesticide carbofuran (sold locally as Furadan) banned have so far not been received well by the relevant ministries in Kenya, but this award will boost interest locally and internationally and I urge the government of Kenya to fully support Kahumbu’s initiatives to save Kenya’s unique wildlife heritage” said Richard Leakey, proud of the talent he has helped nurture.

According to Kenyan law, it is a serious offense to misuse or abuse pesticides in this country and the Pest Control Products Board is meant to regulate the safe use of pesticides for food production. Through my organization WildlifeDirect, I have been calling for a total ban on the deadly carbofuran pesticide locally known by its trade name Furadan in Kenya since 2009 because it is devastating wildlife in the country.  Carbofuran is intended to kill agricultural insect pests and is a neurotoxin that paralyses its victims. WildlifeDirect has documented the misuse and abuse of this chemical which may now be the most serious threat facing wildlife conservation in Kenya today.

To raise awareness, and get government help, we called a national workshop to address the issue of pesticide poisoning of wildlife in April 2008.  It wasn’t until late 2009 that a Task Force under the Ministry of Agriculture was created to address the issue of pesticide impacts on the environment. The Task Force chaired by the Pest Control Board however, has achieved nothing tangible, and the agency has refused to acknowledge a single poisoning incident report submitted by WildlifeDirect. The PCPB has not called a meeting since September 2010 or explained why they have not done so.

Wildlife Direct scientists have been consistently reporting that Furadan has been used to poison lions due to human wildlife conflict, and it is considered to be one of the main causes of the decline of population of lions in Kenya – now reduced to fewer than 2,000 individual animals. The pesticide is sprinked onto carcasss of livestock to kill lions which cannot detect its presence as it has no smell or taste. Any animal that scavenges on a laced carcass will die within minutes and that includes jackals, hyena’s and vultures. Go to the national parks and you will hardly see a vulture anymore. Vultures populations have declined nationwide  by between 50 and 80% due to pesticide poisoning targeting lions.

We have also been reporting the large scale bird poisoning came in Mwea (central-eastern Kenya) where tens of thousands of birds were killed by the lethal poison in the mid 1990s. Farmers were reported to be eliminating the birds to prevent damage to crops. Researcher Martin Odino of WildlifeDirect documents the use of Furadan to poison wading birds in Bunyala (western Kenya) where poachers poison tens of thousands of wild ducks, geese, storks, doves and other birds using Furadan-laced bait every year. The White faced Whistling duck has disappeared from the area completely. WildlifeDirect has documented in photographs and film, how birds are killed and sold for food to local people in markets. The PCPB has refused to acknowledge or investigate these reports despite the serious public health risk.

Though produced in USA by an American firm FMC, Furadan is not permitted for use in the country after the Environmental Protection Agency declared it unsafe for users, consumers and the environment in December 2009. After the airing a shocking documentary showing the poisoning of lions in Kenya in 2009 on CBS 60 minutes, FMC announced a complete withdrawal and buyback of the pesticide in all East Africa where they admitted it was being misused.

According to their website, “FMC Corporation has repurchased Furadan 5G from distributors and retailers in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.  The buy-back program remains open for any product that might still be in commercial channels.  Should any additional product be found in the marketplace, please let FMC know the location details so it can be repurchased.  FMC has no plans to reintroduce the product in these countries in the future”.

The poison was removed only from Kenyan stores, and it was simply moved to Tanzania and Uganda. From there it has been coming back across the border and continues to be found in some Agrovet outlets. Despite the global concerns concerns about the dangers of Furadan, the PCPB continues to permit its use of Furadan in flower farming. It is supplied locally by Juanco Ltd and is advertised on their website.

WildlifeDirect has consistently argued that the pesticide management system in Kenya needs to be revised. Deadly pesticides like Furadan should not be sold over the counter as users are not trained in safe use, and do not have or use any safety gear. Moreover, when poisoning incidents do occur,  rural clinics cannot handle them. In 2009, the Standard newspaper and WildlifeDirect reported that Nelson Kimutai, a three-year old boy from Kitale in Kenya, had died after consuming Furadan that his father had bought to rid his maize farm of rats and insects. He had stored the product in the kitchen and was using it with his bare hands. His son did not associate the chemical with danger and ate a little. Four hours later the local clinic was unable to save his life as they did not know how to reverse the effects of the pesticide.

In her best selling book “Silent Spring” Rachel Carson describes how the poisoning of the earth with DDT and other organophosphates in the USA threatened the lives of people and nature. She accused the agrochemical industry of being untruthful, and raised concern that public officials were failing to protect the public and environment by accepting industry claims uncritically.  The awareness that this book raised led to the banning of DDT in 1972. America has never looked back. Kenya is now experiencing her silent spring and it is time that the public questioned the governments decisions on which chemicals are used in food production. To date Kenya has no standards for pesticide limits in food, and conducts no testing of consumer products in shops. While the medical fraternity express concern about a cancer epidemic, nobody is examining the possible causes.

Given the obvious risks associated with the use and misuse of agrochemicals in Kenya it seems clear that our regulations and capacity to enforce the law are inadequate.   The PCPB its self is compromised by the fact that it is located in the Ministry of Agriculture therefore it cannot be an industry watchdog looking out for the interests of human and environmental health. Moreover, the PCPB is severely under resourced with only 9 inspectors and 2 vehicles nationwide. There are over 9,000 agrovets in the nation. This puts the tiny agency at the mercy of powerful agro chemical industry players who promise to “self regulate”. According to their annual reports, the PCPB’s meagre income is obtained almost entirely from the sale of agrochemicals. No wonder they are allergic to any suggestion of pesticide product bans.

We urge the government of Kenya to urgently address the human health and environmental risks by banning the use of carbofuran and removing the PCPB from the ministry of Agriculture where it is in a position of conflict of interest, and provide adequate resources to enable the PCPB to be effective.

Dr. Paula Kahumbu has a PhD from Princeton University and is the Executive Director of WildlifeDirect.c

In an attempt to save Africas fast declining lions, conservationists have proposed banning the trophy hunting of this charismatic species. A heated debate is raging in Europe and the USA, but it’s hardly being noticed back here in the Lion heartlands.

In Africa, lion populations are declining rapidly due to loss of prey and land, and as a direct result conflict with people. People are killing thousands of lions using spears and poisons like Furadan. Loss of habitat and the use of poison could easily drive Africa’s lions to extinction. With fewer than 2,000 lions left in Kenya, ours may be the first to go.

Thanks to Ross and Nathalie Samuels of Screaming Reels, we recorded this video last week when a lioness killed a ram in a homestead close to Nairobi National Park. We thank Nickson for informing us of the incident soon after it happened.

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We hope that lion conservation groups like Born Free and Lionaid and others will support the work of local conservationists who are saving lions on the ground in Africa.

Our lion conservation work at WildilfeDirect is supported by the National Geographics Big Cat Initiative

FIVE lions and 16 vultures in the Queen Elizabeth National Park in western Uganda have died of suspected
poisoning, acting warden Nelson Guma said. The carcasses of three
lionesses and two males, formerly part of a pride of about 10, along the Kasenyi
track, were discovered about a kilometre from Hamukungu fish landing site on
Wednesday. Park rangers said one of the lionesses was pregnant. Guma
expressed the fear that more lions and wild animals like hyenas, which feed on
dead animals, could also be dead. Usually local people complain of the
wild animals eating their domestic animals, but Guma said there had been no such
case in the recent past.

“It is unfortunate that people with bad hearts poison the lions and end up killing more animals than intended,” he said.

Reports said two people were arrested near the area where the lions were
killed. The animals reportedly killed and ate six head of cattle two months ago.
Guma said he would investigate the claims. Rangers yesterday
retrieved the carcasses of the lions from the wilderness for examination. They
also recovered two dead head of cattle and two cow skins. A swarm of dead green
flies littered the area, indicating possible poisoning. Dr. Margaret
Drachiru, a veterinary doctor at the Uganda Wildlife Authority we took samples
for testing, said the animals could have died on Sunday. She added that
the two head of cattle were not killed by the lions, but were slaughtered and
placed there to trap the cats. According to Guma, lions are the biggest
tourist attraction in the Queen Elizabeth National Park. The dead lions
were the ones which tourists were sure to see at the park, which is said to hold
about 105 lions. The park covers Kyambura and Ishasha sectors. Experts,
using scientific methods, found 214 cats between 1999 and 2004 in Uganda. But
crude estimates put the number to about 745 across the country. It is believed
that the Queen Elizabeth park and the DR Congo hold up to 905 African lions.
Perceived as a threat to livestock and humans, lions are also hunted for
their skins and purported medicinal values. They are poisoned, shot, or speared
by locals. While lion populations in protected areas remain relatively
healthy, conservationists say without urgent measures, they may disappear as
their habitat is lost to deforestation and encroachers. For example, in
2006, about 10 lions were killed in the park in areas which were temporarily
occupied by the Basongora pastoralists who had been chased from the Virunga
National Park in eastern Congo. Uganda has 10 national parks. Lions are
also found in the Murchison Falls in Kidepo Park. Some are said to be in the
Semliki area in Toro. In Lake Mburo National Park, however, the lions
have become extinct. The Uganda Wildlife Authority has put in place
various interventions, including sensitising communities around the parks in an
attempt to save the big cats.

This story was published in Uganda’s New Vision Newspaper and can be found at “http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/720148“

Dear friends,

When we started raising our voices about the impact of pesticides on lions and other animals we didn’t realise that this was the tip of the iceberg. Researching the problem in Kenya has made us stumble across information that makes the head  spin…

“Of the 1.2 billion pounds of pesticides used annually in the US, less than .01% actually reach their intended targets–the bugs! Obviously they are completely contaminating our food, and the consequences are disastrous”,

There has been a flurry of excitement about pesticides after Karla K. Johnston reported in the Huffington Post that pesticides in food are linked to ADHD – attention deficit disorder that can seriously impair child development.

“A new analysis of U.S. health data links children’s attention-deficit disorder with exposure to common pesticides used on fruits and vegetables.

While the study couldn’t prove that pesticides used in agriculture contribute to childhood learning problems, experts said the research is persuasive.”

This was followed by another popular posting on the Huffington Post by Travis Walter Donovan who reports on pesticides in food in USA and advises consumers on what to eat and what not to eat. Travis only reveals how many pesticides were found on individual crops but does not tell us what exactly the pesticides were or how harmful they are to consumers.

To it’s credit the US authorities make available information regarding the residues of pesticides on foods through the Pesticide Data program the PDP.  This National databse manages the collection, analysis, data entry and reporting of pesticide residues on agricultural commodiites in the US. Food supply “with an emphasis on those commodities highly consumed by infants and children.”

Furadan - banned in USA but available in Africa

In Kenya it is virtually impossible to find out what pesticides are used on the foods that we eat, and we do not know what levels of residues remain in the harvested crops, in the soil, or in the water that we are drinking. In February Kenya’s largest fresh water lake, Lake Naivasha went belly up as the lake changed colour and millions of fish and invertebrates died . The government quickly leaped to the defense of flower farmers and reported that “the fish died from lack of oxygen”. Yes they did! and so did JFK die when his heart stopped beating! But that wasn’t the cause. To date Kenyans have not been told why the lake had no oxygen but scientists believe that excessive pesticides and fertilizers used around the lake are to blame. They wonder why the fish die offs always seem to occur on or around Christmas  and Valentines day? Both are major flower picking seasons.  Since we don’t eat flowers, nobody questions what pesticides are used, or how much pesticide is used in their production – but we can guess that it’s lots given the  volumes of unblemished blossoms that make it to the Amsterdam auctions. Of course if only .01% f those pesticides are doing their work, then it’s only logical that 99.99% are entering the lake. No wonder the lake is contaminated, and people around the lake suffer from  a high degree of disorders – especially children (Read Behind the Label by Pat Thomas).

We know that carbofuran which is not permitted for use on food crops n USA, is used widely in Africa where our authorities continue to lie to us that this product is safe. The cruelest aspect of this is that carbofuran is produce and packaged as Furadan in USA and then sold (or is it dumped) in Africa and other developing regions of the world where it is reputed to be some sort of wonder drug. Of course it is – it is so deadly that it kills everything it comes into contact with including humans!

We all buy fruit at a road side vegetable stalls - but what's in them?

Efforts to extract information from our own Pest Control Products Board on what routine tests are conducted to determine pesticide residues on food, in water and soil were met with accusations that we were putting them on the defensive. If the data does not exist then the PCPB should simply say so. But to insinuate that lack of data demonstrates that there is no impact -well that’s just silly science. Understanding how food quality  is controlled in Kenya is like navigating through spaghetti. But yet, Kenyans and all citizens of the world, deserve to know what they are eating and how it could affect them.  That would at the very least allow us to make decisions about what pesticides we use, what foods we eat, and what foods we feed to our children.

Why am I getting so vexed about this?

Well, just last week we submitted a report to the Ministry of Agriculture regarding the impact of the pesticide carbofuran on the environment in Kenya. The more we examine the evidence, the more convinced we are that this pesticide should be banned in Kenya where it is decimating lion and vulture populations, not to mention causing untold damage to  invertebrates and human health.

We don’t expect the meeting next week to be ‘fun’, in fact it will be anything but. The atmosphere in the meetings is hostile and the playing field is not level. We anticipate that it’s going to be a painful battle.

One of the key concerns that keeps being raised is about alternatives to the deadly pesticides carbofuran (Furadan).

Through this blog post we urge everyone to know what you are eating, and if you don’t know, then you should demand more information about what we are eating. It is not fair or right that we are ignorant of the risks we expose ourselves to by simply eating vegetables (vegetables are supposed to be good for us) or drinking water (aren’t we supposed to drink a liter a day?).

We need your help

Through this blog, we request all readers to submit your views about safer alternatives to using carbamate and organophospate based pesticides in agriculture.  Do you know any farmers? Please ask them and send us a comment with your findings. These suggestions will be submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture at the right time.

Kind Regards

Paula

The recent drought decimated Kenyas herds as well as wildlife. Local communities have lost their patience with lions and other predators and have started killing them. We have just received a sad report from the Lion Guardians that two lionesses were killed in the Chyullu Hills, one was nursing cubs that have probably died. The other was pregnant. Local people spear lions to make a statment. But when they just want to get rid of them, poison is much more effective.

This is why we are saddened but not surprised to hear that a pride of five lions plus one hyena have died after consuming poisoned bait near Amboseli National Park. According to the report, a bucket with purple stains and blood was found at the scene – it probably contained the items of bait that were laced as well as the poison furadan which is purple.

Today I received a distressed call from someone in Ngutuni, a sanctuary where a lion cub estimated to be only 4 – 6 months old has been injured and possibly has a broken his foreleg. Abandoned by his pride he has sat under a bush for 3 days now. Thankfully we were able to contact the David Sheldrick Trust and confirm that a rescue will be attempted tomorrow.

We are trying to get more details on these stories.

Paula