Baraza

Lions, once ubiquitous in Africa and Asia are now in big trouble of going extinct in the wild  Their numbers have declined from an estimated 400,000 in the 1940′s to as few as 20,000 today. In Kenya lions are the main tourist attraction to the country, but fewer than 2,000 remain. WidlifeDirect has been working with the National Geographics Big Cats Initiative to halt lion population declines by the year 2015 and to restore populations to sustainable levels.

In October 2011 WildlifeDirect with funding from the National Geographic Big Cats Initiative, we began looking for ways to reduce the mortality of lions due to human wildlife conflict. We started monitoring the human wildlife conflict in the pastoralist areas around the Nairobi National Park.

In partnership with the Friends of Nairobi National Park we started a community lion project  to understand the problem and to find a practical solution to the problem that was leading to the killings of lions. One of the greatest threats to lions is humans – people are retaliating against lions when livestock are killed.

The lion attacks on livestock in and around Nairobi are seasonal and predictable – lions move out of the Nairobi National  Park whenever the wildlife migrates.

Wildebeest and zebra leave the park as soon as rains start in search of sweet short grass. Lions follow these prey animals into the  vast dispersal area where they encounter pastoralists with livestock which are easier prey for them. The Nairobi National Park has 24 adult lions ( 8 adult males and 16 lionesses), 8 sub-adults (between 2.5- 3 years; 7 males and 1 female) and at least 8 cubs of varying ages below 1 year of age. They are all known individually.

The Nairobi park lions are especially vulnerable because they are surrounded by a rapidly growing urban environment. In December 2011 and January 2012, three lions were killed by the local community in retaliation for stock killed – 18 cows, 85 sheep and goats, and 14 donkeys were killed by a number of different park lions in the Kitengela triangle south of the park, since the onset of the short wet season (November – December).

Lion human conflict in this area is an age old problem that has been growing worse every year. We cannot afford to lose the lions, they are the number one tourist attraction to Kenya, a developing country that depends heavily on tourism revenue. We have been monitoring the problem and what we were looking for a local home grown solution, that is practical and affordable for the communities.

We had no idea that we would find that bright spark in a 13 year old boy, Richard Turere.

In February this year we were attended to homesteads that were most severely impacted by the lions – you can read our reports on human- lion conflict here and the lion predation in the Empakasi area here . Indeed the lion predation is so severe that the community tolerance reached breaking point in December 2011 and they killed three lions in one week.

The killing of lions right on the city’s doorstep quickly became a national concern You can watch the disturbing footage of the lion killing here. in the area due to the high number of lions in the park. During our visits to the homesteads we discovered something totally unexpected.

Our research showed a surprising result, one family was somehow immune from night time lion attacks. This was the home of Richard and his family but it wasn’t always like this, they used to have lion attacks every week.

The Turere Family live in Empakasi, right on the edge of the Nairobi National Park, just south of the City of Nairobi. Richard is responsible for herding his family the livestock and keeping them safe from predators, especially lions, but being so close the park puts this family’s cattle right in the path of lions and every month they lost cows, sheep and goats.

At the age of 11 Richard decided to do something about his family’s losses. He observed that the lions never struck the homesteads when someone was awake and walking around with a flashlight. Lions are naturally afraid of people. He concluded that lions equate torches with people so he took the led bulbs from broken flashlights and rigged up an automated lighting system of four or five torch bulbs around the cattle stockade. The bulbs are wired to a box with switches, and to an old car battery charged with a solar panel that operates the family Television set.

The lion lights don’t point towards the cattle, or on any property, but outwards into the darkness. They flash in sequence giving the impression that someone is walking around the stockade. In the two years that his lion light system has been operating, the Turere family has had no predation at night by lions. To Richard he was just doing his job – protecting the herds. His father is beaming, stock thieves will also think twice about visiting a homestead where it appears as if someone is awake. Six of the neighbours noticed that they were getting hit by lions but not the Turere homestead. Richard has already installed the lion lights system in their bomas too. For conservation and human wildlife Conflict management, this simple innovation is a fantastic breakthrough.

The Kenya Wildlife Service report that human wildlife Conflict has cost the government Ksh71 million in compensation in 2011 alone. In Kitengela consolation of several million has been paid to the community for the loss of livestock to lions alone. This figure will rise dramatically as new legislation comes into play. Richards little device of four or five lamps, some wires and a few batteries costs less than ten dollars and has saved his father tens of cattle and therefore it has saved donors several thousand dollars in consolation. The alternative being applied elsewhere is the construction of lion proof fences but at the cost of 1,000 dollars just for materials, then there’s the cost of transport and labour it is way out of the price range fore the average pastoralist. Richards invention is cheap, local, cost effective and easy and quick to install and to maintain. In the two years that his lion light system has been operating, the Turere family has had no predation at night by lions.

To Richard he was just doing his job – protecting the herds. His father is beaming, stock thieves will also think twice about visiting a homestead where it appears as if someone is awake. The Kenya Wildlife Service report that human wildlife Conflict has cost the government Ksh71 million in compensation in 2011 alone. In Kitengela consolation of several million has been paid to the community for the loss of livestock to lions alone. This figure will rise dramatically as new legislation comes into play. Richards little device of four or five lamps, some wires and a few batteries costs less than ten dollars and has saved his father tens of cattle and therefore it has saved donors several thousand dollars in consolation.

The of lion predation problem is not unique to Kitengela and Empakasi, it is a threat to lions wherever they occur. In the Masai Mara and Amboseli the problem is being solved by building lion proof fences around the bomas, or stockades. This is at a cost of up to 1,000 dollars which is way out of the price range of the average pastoralist. At 10 dollars for the lion lights, Richards invention is cheap, practical, cost effective and easy and quick to install and to maintain. In the two years that his lion lights system has been operating, the Turere family has had no predation at night by lions. To Richard he was just doing his job – protecting the herds. His father is beaming, stock thieves will also think twice about visiting a homestead where it appears as if someone is awake. The neighbours of the Turere family noticed that they were getting hit by lions but not the Turere homestead. Richard has already installed the lion lights system in six other bomas too. For conservation and human wildlife Conflict management, this simple innovation is a breakthrough.

Richards invention is cheap, local, cost effective and easy and quick to install and to maintain. It is getting global and local attention on inventors websites like Afrigadget and Make Magazine. The National Geographic Big Cats Initiative, WildlifeDirect and Friends of Nairobi Park are now looking at how to scale up the use of lion lights which can be used in combination with fences and other deterrents. We thank Mr. Oconnor who on learning about Richards amazing invention, offered him a full scholarship to one of Kenya’s top schools Brookhouse International School.Richards story has reached over 33,000 websites and he has been invited to audition for TED. Keep your fingers crossed for Richard and lions and watch this space.

Richard with one of his new friends at Brookhouse School

Please support the lion lights project,  and keep livestock and lion safe. You can make your donation now.

Dear Friends,

The poaching of rhino for it’s horns has reached a new high and Africa is losing an average of one rhino per day to poachers. These critically endangered species could disappear forever if we don’t halt the poaching. In the last two weeks we have lost two white rhino near the Masai Mara Reserve where they were under 24 hour surveillance.

The Kenya Wildlife Services are taking no chances. To prevent any further losses, one of the remaining whites was brought to Nairobi Park earlier this week. I was there to witness the event. Enjoy

embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube Direkt
Rhino Release in Nairobi Park

To support Wildlife Sentinels on WildlifeDirect, please make a donation. Thank you.

As Paolo Torchio says, capturing an image of something never seen before is every photographers dream.

Is this animal half hairy goat?

Look at this hairy fellow. Anyone got any ideas?

Dear all, I am back in the Mara and this time the primates have caught my attention. I took these photos tonight of what seems to be a melanistic bushbaby but I wondered if anyone had seen anything like it before?

It is bigger than galagos (bushbabies) that I have seen elsewhere in Kenya in Nairobi, Mombasa, Tana, Shimba .. but it could just be it’s weird coloration that makes it look bigger. It is jet black apart from a white mark on the chest which apparently all the galago’s here are the same though I’ve only seen this one individual which was coming down for bananas. It makes usual galago calls but a chirpy noise as well – at least I think it was this guy chirping.

He looks and acts kind of like a bear!

Here are some videos you just have to watch about the Wildebeest migration

Paula Kahumbu on location in the Masai Mara on how the the Serengeti Highway will stop the migration

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/KSAIC2fI-v8" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/HYM6LqDJLiM" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Dear Friends,

Last week I visited the Masai Mara with conservationists and a news reporter as part of preparations in producing a news piece about the situation.

Listen to my 5 minute podcast with sounds of the wildebeest crossing the river, and lions roaring here

The sight and sounds of the plains swarming with wildebeest is something that all citizens of planet earth should one day enjoy. It will not be possible if the Tanzanians build a highway across the migrating path of the wildebeest. I took tons of photos and recorded the sounds of these extraordinary animals.

1.3 million wildebeest and Zebra arrive in Kenya after months of trekking across the Tanzanian savannas in search of short sweet grass of the Mara plains in Kenya. It’s the dry season and they are hungry.

They form fantastic concentrations not seen anywhere else in the world

But to get to the sweet grass they have to cross the mighty Mara River – it can take hours before the first animal takes the plunge.

Predators are aware that there will be a feeding frenzy – vultures glide overhead in anticipation.

The first wildebeest take the plunge and begin the frantic panic across the raging river.

Several tourist vans arrive to watch the spectacle which goes on for hours.

Once they’ve crossed mothers try to find their calves

The massive crocodiles didn’t take a single animal in the crossing we watched – too full from gorging themselves the day before.

The Tanzanian Government plans to construct a highway across the Serengeti which will stop the migrating wildebeest and bring and end to the great migration. If you would like to know more about this impending crisis, please check out my previous posts on it.

Please join us in protesting the Tanzanian authorities who plan to build the Serengeti Highway by joining the Facebook group and signing this petition on Care2.

This blog post celebrates features that we’d like to draw your attention to this month. Did you know that WildlifeDirect is on the Radio? We’ve been using PRX an online Public Radio Exchange –a community radio based in USA to share our interviews and some of our stories on WildlifeDirects own PRX channel . If you haven’t heard about them here is a list of some of our favourite Radio pieces on PRX.com

Saving the Mathews Range – a 22 minute  debate recorded around a campfire in a wilderness campsite in a little known remote isolated tropical forest capped mountain in Kenyas northern deserts (8.5 mins).

Paula Kahumbu who is married to the BBC reporter on the story to the Mathews Range assisted in the video and online piece that is currently on the BBC website

Serengeti disaster on the horizon – The Serengeti Highway Richard Leakey discusses the looming end to the wildebeest migration as a result of the planned Serengeti Highway (8.5 minutes).

Can global targets for carbon emissions be met in fast growing developing nations? Paula Kahumbu talks to a low income earner in Kenya to illustrate the challenges that African countries will face in confronting targets for reducing green house gas emissions to meet climate change targets (4 mins).

Poisoning lions. An authoritative 5 minute piece about the continuing decline of lions due to killing of lions in Kenya poisoned using a deadly pesticide called carbofuran

Secrets of the sexy stalk eyed flies –a funny 1 minute interview with insect lover Dino Martins about a bizarre fly

Please listen to  our stories and share widely

Stop the Serengeti Highway

The big story that we are seeking action this month is the Serengeti Highway. It is beyond imagination that the great migration could disappear forever.  It seems unthinkable that anyone would do anything to cause the migration to cease. Yet, it’s actually happening! We told the story of a  controversial decision made by Tanzanian authorities to build a highway right across the migration path of millions of wildebeest and other animals in the Serengeti National Park. The global consequence of destroying the wildebeest migration is unthinkable, it is something that no individuals, politicians, presidents or anyone, should be allowed to take. I also interviewed Richard Leakey about the story and he reminded us that Tanzania needs to develop the region for the people of Tanzania, and he made some sober recommendations which we hope the Tanzanians will be considering. The Serengeti Highway story also aired on Mongabay.com one of the worlds largest  conservation blogs after the webmaster invited me to submit the story to them too

Nature radio in Seychelles

Meanwhile in Seychelles, Nirmal Shah of Nature Seychelles has been producing wonderful radio pieces about nature that are aired on local radio but can also be listened to online. It’s wonderful to hear him describing lying in mud to observe water skimmers, tiny insects that most of us ignore.

Nairobi National park zebra migration

One of the most important dry season grazing for wildlife in the Athi Kapiti plaisn is the Nairobi National Park. It often hosts thousands of animals on a seasonal basis. The park, which lies within the city boundaries, is in trouble precicely because of it’s location. Developments, encroachment, poaching and pollution are all exacting a toll on this wonderful wildlife refuge. Through his regular posts adorned with spectacular photographs, Will Knocker reminds about what makes Nairobi Park special. This week the Zebra migration is in full swing – a wonderful spectacle, especially for those who cannot make it to the Masai Mara to witness the great migration which has just started there.

Poisoning wildlife – the Ongoing debacle

More than two years after WildlifeDirect began reporting the escalation of pesticide poisoning of wildlife in Kenya, the authorities have finally taken it up and created a multi sector Task Force to address the problem. Representing conservation organizations in Kenya, Paula Kahumbu is has been attending the meetings. She reports on the frustrations and the modest progress on that front on the Baraza blog. Meanwhile Martin Odino continues to report the poisoning of birds in Kenya’s irrigation schemes  on http://stopwildlifepoisoning.org, and Munir Virani and others raise the alarm about vulture poisoning in Africa.

Other wonderful posts

Video footage from a mobile phone of a sunbear climbing is my favourite post this week.

Lion guardians find a new pair of magnificent males – in an area where lions have been severely persecuted. Predator Aware team also capture two hunting cheetah brothers in spectacular photographs.

We support all your donations  towards WildlifeDirect or any of our partner blogs.

Volunteer opportunities

Art for conservation are looking for volunteers to help in Rwanda.  Read more in their Art for Gorilla blog.

We informed you earlier of the Tanzania authorities plans to construct a commercial highway across the Serengeti National Park will bring an end to one of the worlds greatest spectacles, the wildebeest migration.That blog post attracted numerous comments – not one reader thinks it’s a good idea!

So I went further and interviewed renowned conservationist, Richard Leakey about the project and why it threatens a globally important heritage should the Tanzania authorities go ahead.

Listen to the podcast here – Richard Leakey comments on Serengeti Highway the transcript is below.

Background

Over 1.3 million wildebeest and zebras participate in one of the worlds greatest spectacles, The great migration in Kenya and Tanzania. But this could end in a matter of years, the Tanzanian authorities have just approved the construction of a commercial highway across the Serengeti National Park to develop the northern and western towns along Lake Victoria. Executive Director of WildlifeDirect, Dr. Paula Kahumbu, interviewed renowned conservationist Dr. Richard Leakey, to understand the consequences of a strip of tarmac across the path of millions of migrating animals, and discusses the alternative options that the Tanzanian authorities have for development in this impoverished region.

If the player doesn’t work for you you can read the transcript below

Transcript

It’s early July 2010 and the wildebeest migration has just started, over a million wildebeest and zebra are expected to flood into Kenya’s Masai Mara from Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park crossing crocodile infested rivers, and dodging lions and other predators. The ‘Great Wildebeest Migration, as it’s come to be known’ has been occurring every year, at about the same time for thousands of years. The Wildebeest, zebras and other plains game take a journey of over 2,000km in search of grazing. The time they reach southern Kenya, the Masai plains are swarming with fantastic concentrations of wildlife.

The great migration attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to both Kenya and Tanzania, but conservationists say that this global spectacle is in danger. The Tanzanian authorities have just approved the construction of a highway across the Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park, it cuts right across the northern path of the migrating wildebeest at a time when they are most vulnerable. Conservationists are up in arms about the decision, and warn that a commercial highway across the Serengeti will bring an end to the great migration.

But the Tanzanian authorities insist that the highway is essential for development in this impoverished region, and that their own environmental impact studies show that it will not disrupt the migration. They plan to start construction in early 2012.

I put these fears to one of the most renowned conservationists in Africa Dr. Richard Leakey, in his Nairobi office.

What do you understand about this proposal that the Tanzanian government has put in place?

Well I think for the development of the great lakes and the development of Tanzanian business interests, they obviously do need a good road network, and putting a road that links the Indian ocean port of Dar es Salaam with Musoma and Mwanza on Lake Victoria is obviously of critical national interest to the Tanzanians. The question arises however, is what is this going to do to the critical Serengeti wildebeest -zebra migration?

Well they say that the TZ government is doing this for the sake of economic development, but why is this particular road so important?

Well I think the road is important, the sighting o the road raises questions and there is an alternative route that goes south of the Serengeti that would serve a very large population of Tanzanians on the way to the Lake. It might cost slightly more, but I would have thought that the southern route was in many ways the best option, but they obviously also need a route that would open up lake Natron and the northern part of Serengeti with access to Kenya and things of that kind.

I can see the economic arguments but we must remember that the purpose of this is to grow the towns of Mwanza and Musoma on Lake Victoria, and at the moment you are talking about half a million people in each town, perhaps. Lets project forward 50 years, lets project to a time when those cities are 3 – 4 million people each, can the Serengeti withstand not just the road as we see it today, but the road as it has to be 50 years from now.

That begs the question, are the animals really worth more than the economic developments that this road will actually bring?

I would hope that it’s not a question of either the animals or the economic development, the animals should be part of the economic development, and there seems to be two options

One would be to re-examine the possibility of the main arterial road linking Lake Victoria with the Indian ocean going south of the Serengeti and putting in an additional road that would open up the northern part of Lake Natron with Loliondo  and up to the Kenya Tanzania border near the Mara which is  a very viable possibility. Alternatively should we not be thinking of whether the y couldn’t elevate the road, as it crosses the Serengeti, put it up on stilts so that the animals could move freely below it. This would be very expensive but not impossible.

Conservationists and tour companies are warning that the construction of the highway will lead to the collapse of populations of wildebeest and zebra.  They are predicting the end of the great migration. But why will these great animals disappear – after all, the numbers of wildebeest and Zebras exceed 1.3 million  individuals and they cross much more difficult terrain than a tarmac road, they are crossing crocodile infested rivers every single year. So what does a narrow strip of road really do to stop these animals from crossing?

I think it’s a narrow strip of road as we envision it today, but it won’t be a narrow strip of road in 30 or 40 years, that’s for sure. There will be a railway line that will parallel it, and there will probably be a 6 lane highway in each direction. So I don’t think we should think of it as a narrow strip of road that we project in to the year 2015, that’s the first point. The second point is that wildebeest and Zebra have to migrate into Kenya and the Masai Mara which is the northern extent of the migratory route which enables these vast numbers of animals to access fresh grass after the rains. If that road becomes too difficult to cross because of a continuous line of traffic in either direction, the wildebeest wont’ make the crossing, and they will be turned back in fear of the road and therefore will overgraze their existing range in Tanzania and will disappear for all time.

Lets say that this road goes ahead and that the protests of conservationists and tourist organizations, the TZ government goes forward and builds this highway, leading to the decline of the wildebeest and the zebras and the migration stops. Does that really matter? Is that a problem?

Well you could argue that it doesn’t matter.  I would think that preserving one of the last great spectacles on the planet, a planet that used to have far more of this but all of which has been destroyed by humanity except this one, is something we should save, it is a responsibility of the Tanzanian government to play it’s role in making the planet a better place for future generations. And by deliberately going into an action that could degrade one of the great spectacles of wildlife on the planet is a very heavy responsibility. I hope the TZ government and the backers of this scheme will think very carefully about not just the next ten years which is the life of their parliament and the life of their president in office, but the next 50 to 100 years. We should be projecting this planets needs way beyond the 15 – 20 years that is all politicians seem to be able to do today.

So if you were the president of Tanzania and you had to make a decision, there’s the economic benefits the short term, and the long term rewards of keeping the Serengeti and the migration going, what would you do?

I think the TZ government which enjoys a really first rate international standing amongst conservationists for having done so much since the days of Julius Nyerere their first president to create new national Parks and to put in place actions that have saved vast areas of their country for wildlife. I think they should think carefully about squandering that reputation. There are alternatives, they may be more expensive, but the world is so concerned, I think, about the importance of this, that additional money could be found to either do two roads. One to the south which is the main artery, one to the north for development of the nothern area but that would not dissect or cross the Serengeti. Or they should give serious thoughts to the feasibility of an engineering project that would raise the road up above the wildebeest routes so that people could get to the lake and the wildebeest could get to the Mara beneath it. This is one international issue amongst the many.

Is there anything that you’d like to add?

The only important point that I would like to add, is that it should not be an either or, its not a question of the migration or development. The migration is part of development. The economic development of Tanzania is critical to its people. It should not be that we have one or the other. Let us find ways which both can be done together. But let’s not leave it until it’s too late. Let’s not waste money. Let’s get talking now about alternative strategies. And if the costs are going to double, can we justify spending that much money? I would have thought Tanzania could justify it and would get a lot of international backing for saving the wildebeest migration into perpetuity.

Well you heard what Richard Leakey had to say, what do you think? Participate in the conversation, join me, Paula Kahumbu at WilldifeDirect.org for more information, maps and opinions about the Serengeti Highway.

WildlifeDirect adds it’s voice to the growing condemnation of a decision by the Tanzanian Government to build a highway across the Serengeti. The road is necessary to link Arusha, with Musoma, but it will cutt directly through a narrow section of the northern Serengeti.

Route map taken from AWF website

The road will have untold environmental impacts and could sever a critical corridor for the annual migration of hundreds of thousands of wildebeests, zebra and other animals. Just to remind you, the Mara-Serengeti migration is one of the worlds greatest spectacles. The road will affect wildlife in Kenya and Tanzania.  Pascal Shelutete, spokesman for the Tanzanian National Parks Authority, was quoted in a recent UK Daily Telegraph story in defence of the project. “This new road will bring a great benefit to the economy of this cut-off part of the country, and ease the movement of people and goods,”

Conservationists including AWF and tour companies in USA are petitioning the Tanzanian government to halt these plans. The Facebook petition to stop the Serengetti Highway has attracted attention to the Tanzanian government who defend the project.According to an  article in the weekly newspaper The East African

AWF have proposed an alternative route – the construction of a tar road linking Wasso in Loliondo Division, Ngorongoro District, with Mto was Mbu. To learn more about this alternative visit the AWF site here

To add your voice visit the facebook appeal and leave a comment here.

On the 25^th of April investigators discovered three dead  lions near Lemek in the Masai Mara ecosystem which occurred on the 22^nd of April 2010. The lions lay dead in a traditional homestead where they had been poisoned by eating a cow laced with pesticides by a Masai family. A lioness had died about 5-10 meters away from the cow carcass. The carcasses of a juvenile male and second lioness lay some 30m away. There were piles of dead flies around the cow carcass and the lions had not yet been scavenged. KWS arrested a local man who admitted that he had poisoned the lions with his neighbors. He produced a container that contained pink powder, which he had used to poison the lion. The same pink coloring was visible on the laced meat of the cow carcass used for the poisoning.  KWS have sent samples of the lion carcasses and the pink substance have been sent for toxicological tests to confirm what pesticide was used.

The suspect confirmed that the cow carcass that was laced belonged to him and other family members, and that it had been killed by lions when his herd’s boy was grazing livestock. The suspect was taken to the police by KWS but despite the admission of guilt and evidence provided, he was released shortly thereafter. According to sources who wish to remain anonymous, a local politician intervened on his behalf.

This incident brings to 8 the number of confirmed poisoning cases of lions in recent weeks in southern Kenya, the other five occurring near the Amboseli National Park. In their National Conservation and Management strategy for Lions and Hyenas, the Kenya Wildlife Service state that “poisoning is perhaps the greatest threat to predators and scavenging birds” and reveal that Kenya’s lion population has declined to fewer than 2,000 individuals and estimates that only 1,970 individuals remain.  KWS confirm that 2010 has started off badly for lions – in addition to 8 confirmed poisonings, more than 10 other lions have been killed in other circumstances; A lion was shot in or near Buffalo Springs Reserve, Samburu District, by local police, while others have been speared near Amboseli  National Park.

In response to this incident, Richard Leakey the Chairman of WildlifeDirect has again called for the government to take action “The future of tourism in Kenya is at risk if dangerous pesticides used to kill lions like Carbofuran (sold locally as Furadan) remain on the market and cases of abuse are not followed up and culprits are set free time and time again. The Kenyan government must show it’s seriousness and take swift action on availability of deadly pesticides like Furadan and the enforcement of the law in obvious incidents of pesticide abuse such as this. Failing this Kenya’s lions go extinct in a matter of years which will cause a catastrophic loss in potential tourism revenues ” .

Conservationists in Kenya warn that carbofuran is the most widely used pestsicide to kill wildlife pests such as lions and leopards in the country. It is also used in pesticide fishing and hunting of birds for human consumption. Carbofuran is a neurotoxin that is deadly to fish, birds in irrigation schemes, cats and even humans.  Due to it’s toxicity and negative impacts, carbofuran is not permitted for use in agriculture in the European Union and use in USA where it is manufactured, was recently revoked after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found it unsafe for users, consumers and wildlife. After incidents of lion poisoning in Kenya became public in 2008, the manufacturers of Furadan, FMC withdrew the product from Kenyan shelves. However, carbofuran is not banned and Furadan can still be found in some places, and the active ingredient carbofuran occurs in other over-the-counter pesticides.

WildlifeDirect is a conservation charity registered in USA and Kenya, and based in Nairobi. We enable conservationists at the front lines to tell their stories and raise awareness about their work through over 80 blogs from the field on the website platform http://wildlifedirect.org.  The Chairman of WildlifeDirect is Dr. Richard Leakey and the Executive Director is Dr. Paula Kahumbu. Visit http://wildlifedirect.org for more information

Furadan: WildlifeDirect is campaigning for the de-registration or total ban on the active ingredient of Furadan, carbofuran in Kenya due to the threats it poses to users, consumers and wildlife. This pesticide threatens the survival of lions, vultures, fish species and many other mammals and birds In Kenya. Furadan is produced in USA by FMC and is sold locally by Juanco SPS as an agricultural insecticide.  For more information on our campaign against wildlife poisoning visit http://stopwildlifepoisoning.wildlifedirect.org

KWS is the government body responsible for wildlife conservation in Kenya.  For more information visit http://www.kws.org

For other photographs or more information please contact Paula Kahumbu paula@wildlifedirect.org, or call 0722685106, or 020 2602463