East Africa's lions poisoned with common pesticide
By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.com
May 11, 2010 Eight lions have been poisoned to death in a month in Kenya, according to conservation organization WildlifeDirect. Locals, frustrated by lions killing their livestock, have taken to poisoning the great cats using a common pesticide in Kenya called carbofuran, known commercially as Furadan. Last month in Amboseli National Park an entire pride of lions—five in total—died after eating bait that had been laced with carbofuran. A hyena was poisoned as well in what is believed to be a revenge-killing. Later in April three additional lions were poisoned to death in the Masai Mara Park. In this case, the perpetrator was caught and arrested. But he has since been released. The toxicity of carbofuran was brought home tragically to the Kenyan public last year when a three-year-old girl consumed the poison and died. Her father, a primary school teacher, had bought the pesticide for his garden. The conservation organization WildlifeDirect has long been campaigning against carbofuran in Kenya. The Kenyan government is currently considering a ban, alhough WildlifeDirect warns it may be years before it is approved. While all forms of carbofuran have been banned in the US and the EU, the pesticide is manufactured in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Farm Machinery and Chemicals (FMC). Although beloved animals to many, lion populations have been falling precipitously over the last century, down from over 100,000 lions at the beginning of the century to approximately 39,000 in 2002. Poisoning, spearing, habitat loss, decline in prey, and even climate change are thought to be behind the species’ decline. The lion is currently listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List. Last year the Kenyan Wildlife Service warned that ‘the king of the jungle’ could vanish entirely from Kenya in 20 years, if action isn’t taken to better protect the cat. …
